Events

MINSK, 18 February (BelTA) – Minsk will remain the venue for negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the relevant statement after he cast his vote as part of the municipal elections campaign on 18 February, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “This topic has been hotly debated in mass media. I know that this venue will not go away. Will someone go to Asia to resolve European problems?”

The president remarked that Germany is of the same opinion. “We do not negotiate. We enable negotiations just like Putin, Poroshenko, Merkel, and Hollande asked me to. We thought long and hard whether we needed it or not,” said the head of state. In his words, the Belarusian side accepted this mission because it is interested in resolving the conflict as soon as possible.

“If they find a better venue, good for them! Frankly speaking, we’ve already done our part. Whatever the Minsk agreements may be, we have stopped the war,” pointed out Alexander Lukashenko. He admitted that people are still getting killed in the conflict zone. But after the negotiations in Minsk began, the numbers are much lower than those registered at the outbreak of the hostilities.

The president stressed that if an agreement on relocating the negotiations to some other capital city is reached, the Belarusian side will not argue with that. “We are not particularly concerned about the fact that such talks have begun. It is not news for me. Someone wants a Nobel Peace Prize, someone else desires other things. They may desire anything, but wise proposals are needed. You don’t want the entire world to ridicule them,” added the head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko said he knows that the relocation of negotiations on Ukraine had not been discussed during the recent meeting of the presidents of the USA and Kazakhstan. “I know that Trump did not raise the issue. Someone is itching to discuss the issue and appear as a peacekeeper. This is why there was no discussion, the meeting was brief, they didn’t have time for it. You know the results: they allegedly signed agreements on lending $7.5 billion with regard to hydrocarbons and other resources. It was the main thing. This is why we should calm down and close this topic,” concluded Alexander Lukashenko.