MINSK, 26 September (BelTA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Makei said he was rather pessimistic about the ongoing developments in Ukraine as he gave an interview to FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This war has been going on since 2014, when a military campaign was unleashed against the residents of Donbass, Donetsk and Lugansk. We can say that this war has been on since 2014. Today, of course, we are interested in ending the conflict as soon as possible. But I am quite pessimistic about the events taking place in Ukraine,” the Belarusian foreign minister said.
“As you have mentioned, certain decisions were taken in Moscow. I understand the logic of the Russian partners. If we talk about the conflict in Ukraine, about the war in Ukraine, we need to look back into 2021 when Russia sent relevant proposals to NATO, the United States asking them to take Russia's security concerns on board. But Russia did not receive any answer. We can understand the logic of the actions of our Russian partners,” said Vladimir Makei. “Perhaps many do not agree with this, but again, Russia did not receive any response to its proposals,” the minister emphasized.
The foreign minister recalled that it was Ukraine that launched a military operation against the residents of Donetsk and Lugansk. And this war continued for almost eight years. “By the way, former President Poroshenko openly said that although they signed these two Minsk agreements, they were not going to implement them,” the minister said.
Answering one of the questions, Vladimir Makei said that Belarus is not going to participate in this war. “We are not party to this war,” he said.
