BELARUS DISSATISFIED WITH RUSSIA OVER MISSILES…

A seniorBelarus diplomat denied to Interfax August 7 that his countryis blocking the handover to Russia of the 18 strategic nuclearmissiles still left on Belarus territory. However he admittedthat President Aleksandr Lukashenko has slowed down the transfer.According to the official, Belarus lays no claim to the missilesand recognizes Russia’s jurisdiction over them. Instead, the slowdownis intended as retaliation for Russia’s failure to repair ecologicaldamage at missile bases in Belarus before withdrawing its forcesfrom the country, as required by the September 1993 bilateraltreaty. Belarus also seeks in this way to make sure that it willbe compensated for the value of the enriched uranium from themissile warheads, which is to be recycled in Russia and sold tothe USA as fuel for nuclear power plants.

…and over Russian Media Coverage.