Yevhen Hlibovytsky points out, however, that while Belarus has been a long-time ally of Russia, Minsk has recently tried to differentiate between its position and Moscow?s, especially on Georgia. For example, he notes that Belarus has not recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and that it is trying to play its own balancing game between the interests of Russia and those of the West, all the while ?staying within the range of Russian influence.? Hlibovytsky says he thinks the West will give the Lukashenko government another chance ? in fact many chances ? because it is crucial in the midst of a financial crisis that is shaking the world economy to decrease the level of risk coming from the post-Soviet sphere of influence. He agrees that the West will probably postpone making any hard decisions on Belarus until next year. But he says this is more about geo-politics than about democracy in Belarus.