MINSK, 26 September (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei told an online press conference about meetings he held with foreign colleagues on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, BelTA has learned.
The minister stressed that the voice of Belarus in the international community is still heard and will be heard. This, in his opinion, is evidenced by the meetings that he held with foreign diplomats during the UN General Assembly in New York.
"We discussed ways of strengthening our bilateral relations, global security in an absolutely friendly, constructive manner. It was, indeed, a conversation of friends or partners," the minister said.
When asked by BelTA whether there were behind-the-scenes meetings not covered by the media, Vladimir Makei said that there were about ten of them. "Those were meetings with Europeans and Americans. They asked us to keep our conversations confidential," he explained.
According to the minister, it was with a certain understanding that he took such a request from representatives of the European Union, a "bastion of democracy", which teaches Belarus human rights and democratic rules, but which practices "baculine discipline and drill".
When talking about the meeting with U.S. representatives, Vladimir Makei quipped about the confidentiality requirement: "Belarus has probably reached such a potential that the information about the meeting with its FM might destroy even such a superpower as the United States."
The main result of the meetings, according to Vladimir Makei, is the possibility to continue the dialogue: "We do not need reports in mass media for the sake of reports, or meetings for the sake of a picture on TV. That's not what this is about. What is most important for me was the possibility to restore or continue contacts, channels of communication, which are very important today and which are necessary for the exchange of information, for conveying our position. Believe me, there are very good, concrete positive agreements regarding the future prospects. I do not harbor rosy hopes that everything will change instantly but it is important to understand that a number of colleagues understand the absurdity of the current situation and the need to get out of it. I am convinced that these meetings will ultimately bear fruit."
