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MINSK, 26 May (BelTA) – Belarus is engaging in an intense behind-the-scenes dialogue with Western counterparts, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Sekreta said on the air of the First News TV Channel, BelTA has learned.
“An intense, non-public dialogue has been underway over the past year. We meet regularly with our counterparts, political department directors and deputy foreign ministers, both in capitals and within the frameworks of international organizations. These talks are kept quiet, covering a fairly wide range of issues, from politics and economy to countering unilateral coercive measures. We voice our positions and opinions, debate, discuss, and do not always agree on everything,” Igor Sekreta said
According to him, over the past year, Western nations have come to grasp and understand Belarus’ point of view much better, and they are now listening to it. “We might not have been able to completely change the policies of certain Western states. However, the fact that our colleagues are now moving forward with discussions on topics that are customary and normal for us in the economy, cultural cooperation, and interaction between other agencies already speaks volumes,” the deputy minister noted.
Igor Sekreta attributes these developments to a growing realization that successive rounds of Western sanctions have run their course. “They see that businesses in their own countries are also suffering economic losses. The reality is that building normal contacts and maintaining civilized trade offers far more benefits than keeping sanctions in place,” he said.
The deputy foreign minister also pointed out that everyone in the region remains deeply concerned about global security issues.
Commenting on the recent phone call between Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and French President Emmanuel Macron, which took place at the initiative of the French side, the Belarusian deputy foreign minister noted that such contact is beneficial in any case. It sends a signal and provides a rather serious momentum for certain agencies to follow up on various issues later on.
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