MINSK, 23 May (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko's message was handed over to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a meeting between Belarus' Permanent Representative to the UN Valentin Rybakov and the UN secretary general on 18 May, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The message highlighted the topic of European and international security amid the ongoing events in Ukraine.
Touching upon the historical context in his message, the head of state stressed that devastating wars had repeatedly rolled over the Belarusian lands, sowing horrific destruction and leading to huge casualties. It was this tragic historical experience, as the Belarusian president noted, that predetermined for the country its enduring value of a peaceful foreign policy.
Belarus has always advocated strengthening global and regional security, as evidenced by the country's numerous initiatives, including the so-called Helsinki-2 on the need for a broad international dialogue on security.
The message was also largely focused on the analysis of events in Ukraine. The head of state recalled Belarus' efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014-2015, and also the initial stages of talks between Russia and Ukraine that took place on the territory of Belarus this year.
“The president clearly states in his message that Belarus is not an aggressor, as many in the West are trying to present us. We are not traitors either. Honesty and decency in relations are important for our country,” the ministry of foreign affairs stressed.
The head of state outlined specific steps that everyone in their role could take to end the conflict and prevent it from escalating into a global war. Priority ones among them were to refrain from the supply of weapons, information wars and various provocations.
The Belarusian president, of course, could not but mention the role of the UN in resolving the conflict. In particular, he welcomed the recent meetings of the UN secretary general in Kyiv and Moscow, and called on the head of the United Nations to organize meaningful contacts with other parties involved in the conflict, i.e. the United States and other Western countries. The head of state once again emphasized the importance of organizing a global and defining process on security issues with the participation of all leading international players in the spirit of San Francisco, thereby drawing parallels with the place where the UN Charter was signed in 1945.
In his message, the Belarusian president assured the UN secretary general that Belarus was ready for direct meetings and other steps in order to ensure peace and opportunities for life and development for future generations.
At the meeting with Valentin Rybakov Antonio Guterres spoke about the UN efforts to address the problem of food security and the potential threat of global hunger.
It is known that the UN secretary general is already actively involved in this process. In particular, in early May, Antonio Guterres, speaking at the UN Security Council, stressed the need to reintegrate food and fertilizers from Belarus and Russia into world markets in order to reduce the growing problem of food insecurity in the world. During the UN Security Council meeting on food security, the UN secretary general once again drew the attention of the world community to this problem and called for lifting restrictions on fertilizers from Belarus and Russia.
