Surkov's dismissal and a pipeline dispute in Russia's neighbourhood
A retrospective on the Kremlin personnel change and the Belarus oil row reported in mid-February 2020.
What did Moscow's handling of its neighbours look like on 19 February 2020? The previous day, Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a presidential order dismissing senior adviser Vladislav Surkov.
Surkov had been in charge of the Kremlin's policy on the Ukrainian crisis and of its relations with the separatist "people's republics" in the Donbass. His removal ended his role in that portfolio.
A separate dispute was unfolding on Russia's western flank. On 14 February 2020, Belarus threatened to take oil from the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian oil to central Europe across Belarusian territory, if Russia did not supply the volumes of crude it required.
Russian oil supplies to Belarus had not been agreed for 2020. Shipments had dwindled to 500,000 tonnes, down from a planned 2 million tonnes.
