An altercation erupts at a high-level meeting of a Russia-dominated economic union

MOSCOW (AP) — A tightly-scripted meeting of the Russia-dominated economic alliance of several ex-Soviet nations briefly went awry Thursday when two leaders engaged in bickering during a live broadcast of the event.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and other heads of states attended the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has increasingly sought to phase down his country’s ties with Moscow and forge closer relations with the West, joined the meeting via video link after canceling his trip following a positive test for COVID-19.

The carefully choreographed session at a resort near St. Petersburg veered off script when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whose country was taking the rotating chairmanship in the economic grouping from Armenia, urged Pashinyan to visit Belarus for the union’s next meeting.

Pashinyan responded that he plans to attend the Belarus meeting via video call, after which Lukashenko pressed for an explanation and even offered to send a plane to fly the Armenian delegation to the Belarusian capital.

Pashinyan then pointed to his earlier decision to freeze high-level visits to Belarus over Lukashenko’s support for Armenia’s rival, Azerbaijan.

“I don’t think this is the right format for discussing these issues,” Pashinyan added.

But Lukashenko kept arguing and Pashinyan snapped back. Putin, who sat next to Lukashenko, and other leaders watched the altercation in stony silence.

The Eurasian Economic Union was formed a decade ago to encourage stronger business ties and facilitate trade between its members, but it has been marred by economic and other dispoutes between members.