MINSK, 18 August (BelTA) – I concur with the Russian president that the peace talks on Ukraine should be resumed on the basis of the Istanbul agreements, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with the Rossiya TV channel, BelTA has learned.
"We need to sit down at the negotiating table. You may ask: how? Putin, I unconditionally support him on this (though we argue on many issues). If you sit down at the negotiating table, China, Brazil and others immediately ask the question: ‘Well, where to start?’ President Putin suggested rightly, very smart: "Let's start where we ended up in Istanbul." Let's revisit the agreements initialed by the negotiators. Putin shared the document with me. Let's start from there," the Belarusian leader said.
"Yes, the situation on the ground has changed, but still this is where the parties can start from. Well, for example, this is Russia’s territory, according to its constitution... We need to sit down at the negotiating table and discuss the issue. And there is such an opportunity," the head of state added.
"We need to sit down at the negotiating table. You may ask: how? Putin, I unconditionally support him on this (though we argue on many issues). If you sit down at the negotiating table, China, Brazil and others immediately ask the question: ‘Well, where to start?’ President Putin suggested rightly, very smart: "Let's start where we ended up in Istanbul." Let's revisit the agreements initialed by the negotiators. Putin shared the document with me. Let's start from there," the Belarusian leader said.
"Yes, the situation on the ground has changed, but still this is where the parties can start from. Well, for example, this is Russia’s territory, according to its constitution... We need to sit down at the negotiating table and discuss the issue. And there is such an opportunity," the head of state added.
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