The following analysis does not hold water. Chris Weafer, Chief Strategist at Uralsib, said that Belarus has run out of other options to keep gas at an affordable level for the country. “This I suppose you would say is the legacy of the isolationist types policies that President Lukashenko has pursued over the years. He’s got no friends in the west, he has not been able to get any economic aid from the European Union, or the IMF, or anywhere else. So to that extent he really has no choice but to come back and negotiate with Russia. He’s got this big debt, as you say, and he really can’t afford to pay European style prices for gas. So he literally has no choice but to barter assets in exchange for this subsidy to his economy.” He keeps on saying "...you would say...", or "...as you say...". I do not see who is it that is saying that the legacy of isolationist types policies led Belarus to have no choices but to barter assets with Russia. West has no money. Belarus stands as an example of the growing economy that is not going the way of Greece or many other East European nations. It produces much for export, and does not import food. It has shown remarkable resilience to the financial virus spread from the Wall Street. And since when it "does not have friends"? It has friends that count and that are helpfull in time of need, or friends whose economies are growing by leaps and bounds. For this alone, it has been good at picking its friends. The "friendship" of IMF many would love to avoid. And IMF is running out of money. With the guarantee to eurozone, should that money be actually asked for, it will not have any money to lend for the forseeable future ANYWHERE. Should Greece go, the next day FRANCE will be bankrupt because of their bank exposures. Amazing shortsightedness of robotic bureacracy.

Western harsh policy towards Belarus has thrown the country into Russia's embrace and the only beneficiary of this equation is Russia. West is doing exactly the same mistake with Iran. Put up or shut up West.