Andrew E. Kramer in the International Herald Tribune examines how the souring of relations between traditional allies Russia and Belarus is the result of more than just the current oil crisis.  According to ITAR-TASS, the speaker of the Russian state duma, Boris Gryzlov, has said that Russia will welcome it if other CIS states choose to join the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.  The customs union could, Gryzlov reportedly says, up economic growth in the three existing members by 14-15% by 2015.  Following yesterday’s Black Sea Fleet threat, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has continued to use the Russia card against his rivals for the Presidency, suggesting that his competitors are part of a Kremlin-backed ‘coalition’.