Largest merger in history in the works

Forget the TIme Warner AOL meger, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Belarus’ leader late Thursday, starting a visit that was closely watched for signs the two ex-Soviet neighbors were advancing toward a long-discussed merger.

The creation of a single state could allow Putin to become the leader of a land even larger than Russia is today after he steps down from the presidency next May.

The Kremlin moved to quash talk of such a possibility, denying that Putin’s talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and other officials would touch upon a draft constitution that would describe the structure of a unified country’s government.

Lukashenko’s office, however, said last week that the document would be part of the agenda, and the secretary of the existing Russia-Belarus executive body said Wednesday that it would likely be discussed.

Many politicians and observers in both nations, meanwhile, said Putin’s unusual visit to Belarus signaled his renewed interest in the long-debated merger plan.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Putin tries to speed up a union with Belarus
.. to become the president of the unified state,” Russian Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov said this week.

Putin, who has indicated he will seek to retain significant influence after term limits force him from the Kremlin, does have at least one other option.

On Monday, he said he supported his protege Dmitry Medvedev to become Russia’s next president. Medvedev instantly became the overwhelming favorite in the March 2 vote and he, in turn, asked Putin on Tuesday to be his prime minister, though Putin has not yet accepted.

The creation of a single state could give Putin an alternative to the Russian prime minister’s post, potentially creating a job that would place him above national presidents.

A merger of the two predominantly Slavic, Russian Orthodox countries would be the first of any two ex-Soviet republics since the Soviet Union split apart in 1991, and would make many Russians proud. But it would deepen Western concerns about an increasingly assertive Russia.

The Kremlin said Thursday that a draft constitution of a union was not on the agenda of Friday’s session of the Supreme State Council of the Union State. After his arrival late Thursday, Putin dined privately with Lukashenko.

Last week, Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio quoted unidentified members of the Lukashenko administration as saying Moscow and Minsk had struck a deal under which Putin would become president of a Russia-Belarus union while Lukashenko would be speaker of its parliament.