Lukashenko has toed a delicate line over the years, trying to assert his nation's independence of Russia while conscious of the power that Vladimir Putin holds over him.
Delicate cous cous, fragrant with toasted almonds and confit lemons, sits in a clean white bowl into which is placed lobster tails and stunning shellfish bisque.
A handful of objects including a Victorian cast of the head of a hanged man and a delicate lace pillow embroidered with her own hair by a woman arrested hundreds of times for public drunkenness have left one of the most private collections in the world for the first time, for the first public exhibition from the Black Museum of the Metropolitan police.
As a communications officer at Medecin sans Frontieres she has had plenty of experience of the delicate relationship between journalists and NGOs.
Instead of a party henchman we now have a pragmatist in charge of the delicate relationship between central and local government, a relationship that will dictate how the crisis is solved.
That she's an irresistible mixture of delicate and dangerous?
Three "courses" might comprise, say, yoghurt with fruit, then smoked salmon and cream cheese or Mexican-style eggs, then homemade cake, all beautifully served on delicate white china with white linen napkins.
It all came to a head on Sunday night, though, when she appeared on the red carpet in an ice-blue number with a delicate gold and diamond headband, and a froggy ring on the little finger of her right hand.
There has to be a delicate balance between internet security and common sense.
You do need mature spinach, of the kind that's so puzzlingly ignored by supermarkets, who favour the baby leaves that are far too delicate for this dish; I'm lucky enough to have a local market that sells it in big muddy bunches; greengrocers and farm shops are other good sources.
Poroshenko will also need to steer a delicate geopolitical path, moving the country towards closer ties with Europe demanded by the Euromaidan protests that swept out the government of Viktor Yanukovych in February, while improving relations with Russia, Ukraine's often belligerent neighbour.
