When Belarus's leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, irked the Kremlin in 2004 Russia turned off the taps, if only briefly.

ECONOMIST: Pipeline politics | The

Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Belarus's maverick leader, upped the stakes by ordering a cut in transit shipments of Russian gas to the EU, arguing it was also owed money.

ECONOMIST: Russia and its neighbourhood

Resisting Russian pressure to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia immediately, Belarus's president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, said he would let a new parliament decide the matter, after an election at the end of September.

ECONOMIST: Russia's western neighbours