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Lukashenka and Putin reported to have briefly discussed Uralkali issue

Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin briefly discussed the conflict over Russia's potash producer Uralkali during their meeting on Monday on the sidelines of a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Sochi, the Russian president's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.

"Today Putin and Lukashenka had a conversation on the sidelines of the summit," Mr. Peskov said, according to RIA Novosti. "It was a brief face-to-face conversation. The situation regarding Uralkali was touched on very briefly."

Mr. Peskov could not answer whether Belarus would extradite Uralkali CEO Vladislav Baumgertner, who has been held in jail in Belarus since August 26.

On September 19, the Belarusian leader said that Mr. Baumgertner might be extradited to Russia "for investigation."

The Russian president’s aide, Yury Ushakov, told reporters in Moscow the following day that the Kremlin was expecting Mr. Baumgertner to be handed over to Russia soon, but that the process had been "a little delayed." He expressed hope that the issue would soon be settled, referring to Mr. Lukashenka's statement the previous day.

On September 21, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the delay had been caused by Minsk's demand that criminal proceedings against Mr. Baumgertner should be continued in Russia.