MINSK, 8 August (BelTA) - Press Secretary of the Belarusian President Natalya Eismont shared some details about the preparation of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s interview with TIME journalist Simon Shuster on the air of Belarus 1 TV channel. BelTA learned.
According to Natalya Eismont, interview requests with the Belarusian leader come from journalists from all over the world. After the meeting between the Belarusian president and U.S. President’s Special Envoy Keith Kellogg, there was a surge in requests from U.S. journalists. Among them was TIME magazine, which was one of the first to express interest in interviewing the Belarusian leader. The president reviewed the requests and agreed to speak with TIME’s Simon Shuster.
“It didn’t work out right away. The interview was postponed several times. The president rescheduled it due to his busy schedule and other reasons. But in the end, as you saw, it took place two weeks ago,” Natalya Eismont said.
Natalya Eismont noted that it was a three-hour, very substantive, open, and even somewhat friendly conversation. This was evident in the final part of the interview, though some moments remained off-camera.
"Simon Shuster, our fellow journalist, was genuinely surprised by our openness and repeatedly thanked us, the president and all of us, for it. Throughout the day we worked together, he told me more than once that, despite his extensive experience, he found this working format unprecedented," Natalya Eismont said.
The press secretary also explained why Simon Shuster asked to "hold off" on publishing the interview for two weeks. "Given how fast-paced the news cycle is these days, we always try to work quickly. But in this case, we accommodated his request," she added. "Normally, we release presidential interviews while the news is still fresh to maintain relevance. But as you saw, there was a two-week delay, this time - at our colleagues' request. They explained they needed time to prepare what they described as an in-depth analytical piece. We accommodated them. We always operate (and did so in this case) on the assumption that we're dealing with professionals," she added.
Natalya Eismont also mentioned that the interview was originally scheduled for release on 7 August. However, she received a call from the United States requesting to delay publication, to which the Belarusian leader's press team agreed. Natalya Eismont clarified that the delay was tied to the ongoing developments in the Russia-US negotiations: "TIME's American editorial team wanted to wait and see how this situation would ultimately play out," she explained. "And in this context," she continued, "they explained they might want to slightly adjust some nuances in the material. Once again, we agreed; it's their editorial prerogative. They approached us with this request, and we accommodated it. That's why we postponed the interview's publication.”
“It didn’t work out right away. The interview was postponed several times. The president rescheduled it due to his busy schedule and other reasons. But in the end, as you saw, it took place two weeks ago,” Natalya Eismont said.
Natalya Eismont noted that it was a three-hour, very substantive, open, and even somewhat friendly conversation. This was evident in the final part of the interview, though some moments remained off-camera.
"Simon Shuster, our fellow journalist, was genuinely surprised by our openness and repeatedly thanked us, the president and all of us, for it. Throughout the day we worked together, he told me more than once that, despite his extensive experience, he found this working format unprecedented," Natalya Eismont said.
The press secretary also explained why Simon Shuster asked to "hold off" on publishing the interview for two weeks. "Given how fast-paced the news cycle is these days, we always try to work quickly. But in this case, we accommodated his request," she added. "Normally, we release presidential interviews while the news is still fresh to maintain relevance. But as you saw, there was a two-week delay, this time - at our colleagues' request. They explained they needed time to prepare what they described as an in-depth analytical piece. We accommodated them. We always operate (and did so in this case) on the assumption that we're dealing with professionals," she added.
Natalya Eismont also mentioned that the interview was originally scheduled for release on 7 August. However, she received a call from the United States requesting to delay publication, to which the Belarusian leader's press team agreed. Natalya Eismont clarified that the delay was tied to the ongoing developments in the Russia-US negotiations: "TIME's American editorial team wanted to wait and see how this situation would ultimately play out," she explained. "And in this context," she continued, "they explained they might want to slightly adjust some nuances in the material. Once again, we agreed; it's their editorial prerogative. They approached us with this request, and we accommodated it. That's why we postponed the interview's publication.”
Natalya Eismont pointed out that many of the head of state's statements from the interview two weeks ago have since been validated after the publication. “I want to emphasize that we're not suggesting the president planned certain moves in advance. No, it's simply that the president has an in-depth understanding of the situation and always speaks from real-world experience. That's why his words prove accurate in the end," she said.
Follow us on:
