MINSK, 26 November (BelTA) – Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov has commented on the rumors of unofficial contacts between the Kremlin and the Belarusian opposition as he talked to reporters, BelTA has learned.
The journalists asked whether the information about such contacts mentioned by a representative of the opposition in an interview is true. Sergey Lavrov talked about what he knows about that interview. “He [the representative of the Belarusian opposition] did not just assume the possibility of unofficial contacts with Moscow. He claimed that such contacts are ongoing, that they are being coordinated, saying that he could not name any names, but that those contacts are rather high-level. In addition, he speculated whether I would be allowed to tell our Belarusian friends about this,” he said. “This is an outright lie. This simply characterizes those who are trying to build a career of sorts under foreign sponsorship,” Sergey Lavrov added.
For his part, Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei noted: “We are witnessing attempts of the government opponents, who fled the country to live in the neighboring countries, to influence the situation in Belarus and to topple ‘the regime'. You see, this is not forbidden, there are certain methods of political struggle that can be used to come to power. However, I believe that this process should stay within legal boundaries. Our opponents are calling for economic pressure and economic sanctions, claiming that they are fighting with the regime, while in fact these measures will have a negative effect of the prosperity of certain people and the nation.” Ordinary citizens will not back such calls, Vladimir Makei added.
