Screenshot of UN Web TV video
MINSK, 13 September (BelTA) - Belarus rejects any claims related to the alleged incidents of violation of Polish airspace by unmanned aerial vehicles on the night of 10 September, Chargé d'Affaires of Belarus to the United Nations Artyom Tozik at a meeting of the UN Security Council, BelTA has learned.
“We regret that in its request for a UN Security Council meeting, Poland accused Belarus of escalating the situation and disregarding international law. We reject any claims against us in connection with the alleged incidents of violation of Polish airspace by unmanned aerial vehicles on the night of 10 September. These accusations sound particularly groundless given the circumstance that the Republic of Belarus was the first and, perhaps, the only one to inform the Polish side about the approaching drones,” said Artyom Tozik.
He added that in this situation, Belarus demonstrated an absolutely open nature of its actions and a readiness for prompt cooperation by informing Poland in advance and as instantly as possible. “In response, we hear completely inexplicable arguments directed at us,” the representative of Belarus said.
The diplomat emphasized that Belarus has always been guided by the priorities of an exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine and sees no other way out of the bloody confrontation except through dialogue based on mutual respect, trust, and equality of the parties.
“We welcome current diplomatic initiatives aimed at facilitating direct negotiations. We hope that the results of the recent bilateral Russia-U.S. summit in Alaska will yield tangible results for the peace process. We note in this regard the efforts of the U.S. president to facilitate a swift end to the conflict. We have always stated and continue to insist that it is fundamentally important to achieve a ceasefire and move towards cementing agreements with firm, unambiguous guarantees for both Ukraine and Russia,” Artyom Tozik said.
As previously reported, on the morning of 10 September, the operational command of the Polish army reported the destruction of drones that had violated the country's airspace. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that “dangerous” drones had been shot down. According to him, they were Russian, although he provided no evidence. In turn, Chargé d'Affaires of Russia in Poland Andrei Ordash stated that the drones had entered Poland from the direction of Ukraine.
Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Defense Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Major-General Pavel Muraveiko stated that Belarus had notified Poland and Lithuania about the approach of UAVs to their territories. He also indicated that some of the stray drones had been destroyed by Belarusian air defense forces. Later, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski confirmed that Belarus had notified about drones approaching Polish airspace.
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