Opinions & Interviews

FM: President calls for rapid expansion of Belarus’ relations with distant countries

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 MINSK, 7 December (BelTA) - The objective is to significantly increase Belarus’ engagement with distant nations, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov told STV channel as he commented on the major foreign tour of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, BelTA has learned.

“The president demands that we all accelerate. As he says, life is such that if you want to be ahead, you have to run. And therefore, leaving for tomorrow what can be done today is a luxury we cannot afford. All the more so because the objective is to significantly expand our presence and our ties with distant nations,” the minister stressed.

Maxim Ryzhenkov specifically mentioned Myanmar and Algeria, where Aleksandr Lukashenko made official visits. Not long ago, the former was largely terra incognita for Belarus, while cooperation with Algeria was very well-developed during Soviet times but later this direction was largely neglected.

The minister pointed out that in developing ties with distant nations, engagement cannot be sporadic or ad hoc, especially given the objective to diversify exports against the backdrop of Western sanctions. “We need to find friends and allies all over the world,” the minister said.

He explained that this is precisely the goal of such “cumulative trips”, where the president makes several visits to various countries during one working tour.

Answering a question about how specific routes are planned, Maxim Ryzhenkov said many factors need to be considered, starting with aligning the schedules of national leaders and resolving possible protocol formalities. For some countries, it might be important, for example, that they receive the first visit. Sometimes certain political nuances also matter: from which country one arrives and where one goes after the visit. “It’s a complex issue, both protocol-wise and politically,” the minister said.

Of course, when planning the schedule, efforts are made to consider the convenience for the president of Belarus as well. This time, the trip began with a working visit to Kyrgyzstan for the CSTO summit. Then Aleksandr Lukashenko proceeded on an official visit to Myanmar, as it is significantly closer from Kyrgyzstan, and the time difference with Bishkek is only half an hour.

After Myanmar, Aleksandr Lukashenko arrived in Oman. This country is conveniently located at the crossroads of regions, and, in addition, the leaders have established good, friendly relations.

Oman also has excellent relations with Algeria, where the president proceeded on an official visit after holding top-level negotiations in Muscat. These factors ultimately created an opportunity to discuss prospects for implementing trilateral projects between Belarus, Algeria, and Oman.

“With these countries, we have mutual understanding and a shared view of the world. The only problem is aligning our schedules. But that is purely technical, protocol work,” the minister of foreign affairs said.

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