MINSK, 25 November (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has received a report from State Secretary of the Security Council Aleksandr Volfovich, who, at the head of state’s request, met with truck drivers stranded in Belarus after Lithuania closed the border, BelTA has learned.
“We agreed that you would meet with the truck drivers on Sunday. There are roughly 1,800 of them, all with Lithuanian license plates. The drivers themselves, however, are a diverse group – Belarusians, Russians, Lithuanians, and Kazakhs. They [Lithuanians] have now opened the border. Naturally, they do not want to admit they are to blame. And we do not need them to; people can see for themselves who is right and who is wrong,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The head of state believes that the Lithuanian side will try to exploit this topic to pressure truck drivers into adopting a certain political stance. “You had to explain to people what was happening, how it was happening, and who is to blame, after all. I believe you did that,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “What is your opinion from your conversation with the drivers? What is their view of the situation?”
Speaking about the heavy-duty truck drivers stranded in Belarus after Lithuania closed the border, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that they bear no responsibility for the Lithuanian authorities’ decisions. “These people and the companies they work for are not to blame for anything. What are the Lithuanian trucking companies guilty of? Nothing. This stupidity was committed at the political level,” he emphasized.
The president added that the current situation must now be resolved by the two countries’ foreign ministries: “Let our and Lithuania’s Foreign Ministries meet and resolve this situation.”
Furthermore, the president instructed the state secretary of the Security Council to consider personnel issues.
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