Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 28 August (BelTA) – Kazakhstan considers the high-level talks which took place in Minsk on 26 August as successful and hopes they will bring results, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Yergali Bulegenov told a press conference on 28 August, BelTA has learned.

“The Minsk summit is still to get its in-depth assessment. The majority of bilateral meetings were held in a face-to-face format, and we do not know all of their outcomes. The Minsk meeting in general has a positive outcome,” the diplomat stressed.

In his words, there were concerns ahead of the summit on whether the parties involved in the conflict would sit down to talk. “The bilateral meeting of the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine lasted for about two hours. And it is very important that these talks took place,” Yergali Bulegenov said.

The Ambassador emphasized the importance of the initiatives voiced by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the summit and, in particular, the one urging a ceasefire in order to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine. He also added that Kazakhstan is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. One more important proposal put forward by the President of Kazakhstan at the Minsk summit was to set up an international fund to help the Ukrainian economy.

The Kazakhstani diplomat expressed hope that the Ukrainian issue would be discussed further at the meeting of the OSCE-Russia-Ukraine contact group which is to take place in the soonest possible time.