MINSK, 29 August (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei has a positive opinion about negotiations with the U.S. President's National Security Advisor John Bolton in Minsk on 29 August, BelTA has learned.
“The visit was quite useful,” Vladimir Makei told mass media. “We've agreed we should continue the dialogue without avoiding sensitive issues.”
Vladimir Makei noted there is no need to look for any conspiracy theories behind the visit of John Bolton to Belarus. “As far as I can understand, he intended to visit several countries, including Belarus, in order to get familiar with the situation in the region and learn the points of view of the leadership in these countries on the situation in the region, on prospects of development of this situation taking into account the fact that not all is well,” Vladimir Makei said. “We see a number of smoldering crises and certain issues relating to the problem of terrorism, including efforts to ensure greater security in the region and the world as a whole.”
The Belarusian minister of foreign affairs said when they received a request to host the visit, the Belarusian side agreed to organize it due to the desire to establish normal relations with the United States of America.
“Nobody has urged anyone to join something or get away from someone or something,” Vladimir Makei stressed. “We've had sincere discussions about the situation in our region, the situation in the world, a discussion about matters of security, trade and economic cooperation, the advancement of bilateral relations between Belarus and the USA.”
According to the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs, the visit of the USA's representative was accompanied by an absolutely sincere and motivated conversation. “It seems to me we clearly saw the desire, the intention to understand each other, hear out each other's reasoning. In my opinion it was the most important thing,” Vladimir Makei added.
He noted that the agenda of the talks featured security matters in the region, in the Middle East and other countries. “The Belarusian head of state said that it is in the blood of Belarusians to reject conflicts, in particular, military conflicts and wars, as a means to resolve disputes. Our country is no stranger to wars, as Belarus was the battlefield of several wars in the past century. We absolutely reject military solutions to conflicts and issues. We stand for peaceful negotiations and efforts to find a common ground. We believe that diplomacy is the only way to success. The Belarusian head of state made a clear statement about it,” Vladimir Makei said.
The minister informed that the parties had a meaningful discussion of the bilateral relations, including some sensitive issues that are a source of concern for American partners.
“The Belarusian president made it absolutely clear that we are not going to the United States with a begging bowl, we are not asking for anything. We want an equal treatment in our trade, economic, political, and humanitarian cooperation. We are ready for that,” he explained.
The minister recalled certain restrictions in Belarus-USA relations. However, the most important thing is a shared understanding of the need to continue the dialogue. “We need to come to grips with the pending issues of the bilateral agenda. That was a truly important visit in this regard. Most importantly, the parties tried to hear each other and agreed to go on with the dialogue,” the minister said.
