MINSK, 14 November (BelTA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania has not yet provided its response to a proposal made two days ago by the Belarusian side to hold negotiations between the two ministries to find ways to resolve the situation on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, spokesman for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ruslan Varankov told BelTA.
“To date, the response from the Lithuanian MFA to our proposal has not been received. Instead, Lithuania has proposed holding a meeting at the level of deputy heads of the two countries' border services early next week on the issue of combating cross-border crime,” Ruslan Varankov said.
He noted that this initiative is fully in line with the steps Minsk has been proposing to Vilnius in recent years: cooperation in the area of state border protection and control. “And we, of course, welcome it,” the spokesman stated.
“However, such cooperation does not resolve the issue of reopening the border crossing points that were unilaterally closed by Lithuania and resuming the movement of citizens, vehicles, and cargo through them. We emphasize once again that, given the complex nature of this issue, its resolution is only possible at the political and diplomatic level, which is what the citizens of Belarus, Lithuania, and other states, including the EU, are waiting for from us. Belarus is ready for this. But there is another, simpler option that does not require negotiations: Lithuania could simply revoke its unilateral decision to keep the border closed,” Ruslan Varankov said.
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