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Lukashenko: High-intensity war in Donbass was stopped in Minsk

MINSK, 9 August (BelTA) – Being the host of the peace talks, Belarus played a huge role in the settlement of the situation in Donbass, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the Big Conversation with the President, a meeting with the public, experts and media community in the format of a big press conference in Minsk on 9 August, BelTA has learned.

Speaking about the development of the Belarusian economy under sanctions, the head of state pointed out that export is really important for the country, as a significant amount of products are bound for foreign markets. However, the markets of the European Union and the United States, which are now imposing sanctions, are not a priority for Belarus, as domestic products have never been much allowed there, the president said. He also recalled that Belarus has been under sanctions almost all the time. The only period without sanctions was when Minsk was chosen as a venue for the Normandy Four talks to resolve the crisis in the southeast of Ukraine at the suggestion of Russian and German leaders Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel.

“That is when some window of opportunity opened, and we became not some mediator, but a platform for these peace talks. A high-intensity war in Donbass was stopped here, in Minsk. They do exchange fire there at least one a week but that terrible war like at Debaltsevo and at Donetsk airport is no longer there. That is when they treated us in humane way and said that Belarus was a place where one can go and look for peace,” the Belarusian leader said.

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