MINSK, 7 October (BelTA) – Belarus will not test, make, or deploy medium-range and shorter-range missiles, BelTA learned from Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei during the forum "European security: Stepping back from the brink" on 7 October
Vladimir Makei mentioned a recent statement by Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who said that Belarus will continue honoring provisions of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty despite the USA's and Russia's withdrawal from the treaty.
Vladimir Makei went on saying: “We will not test, make, or deploy medium-range and shorter-range missiles. But our course of action would make sense only if other countries refused to deploy such weapons and aim them at us and our allies. Only through a responsible dialogue can we move away from the edge of the abyss of a global conflict – a conflict that will have no victors. Only gradually, only step by step can the toxic atmosphere of confrontation be replaced with clean air of responsible partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation.”
Vladimir Makei stressed that in conditions of the complicated political situation in the world and growing regional tensions the international community needs a universal uniting agenda, novel ideas a large number of countries and international organizations would share. “We should work together, systemically and in advance instead of responding to security challenges post factum,” the diplomat noted.
Vladimir Makei reminded that when Belarus presided over the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the country put forward a number of initiatives to establish partnership between the CSTO and the UN. It was in Minsk that the need for constructive interaction between the CSTO and NATO to avoid new dividing lines on the continent had been called for, Vladimir Makei pointed out. “It is not normal when the two largest military and political blocs almost never talk to each other,” the minister of foreign affairs noted.
In his words, the idea of a large-format dialogue can be backed by the Belarus president's initiative to establish a digital good neighborhood belt – the signing of international agreements on information security with a focus on ideas of digital sovereignty and neutrality, non-interference of countries with the information space of each other.
