Belarus ready to help in diplomatic settlement of Ukrainian conflict

Belarus ready to help in diplomatic settlement of Ukrainian conflict

The Belarusian President has once again urged all sides to engage in dialogue, because this is the only way to prevent bloodshed. The day before at the urgent meeting with the military bloc, Alexander Lukashenko dotted the "i" on many issues of the current agenda. The official Minsk always talks about peace, warns about the consequences of armed rhetoric, reminds about the too high price of conflicts! And today, Belarus is ready to assist in resolving the situation in a diplomatic way while there is still such an opportunity.

The Russian side has conditions both for the NATO bloc and Ukraine. They concern, among other things, the de-militarization of Ukrainian territory, preventing the country from joining NATO, and stopping the forceful action against the LNR and DNR.

At the same time, while answering the journalists' questions immediately after the meeting, Alexander Lukashenko assured that our army is not involved in the military operation, and we were not asked to do so either. There is no threat to Belarus: our southern border is reliably protected. A more urgent task is to determine the defense of the western borders. Belarus would like to deploy Iskanders and S-400 Triumf in its territory.

"These are the weapons that always make our opponents sober. Today or tomorrow we will have a conversation with the President of Russia to reinforce our position here in the west. Ukraine is Ukraine, but they are already moving to Poland and Lithuania, deploying brigades, planes, helicopters, and so on. They have been doing it for a long time," noted the Belarusian leader. Iskanders and S-400 Triumf would be the most powerful deterrent. Then they would hardly come here. The President explained that he is now focusing on military security, so that a possible conflict on the borders in the future would not be a surprise. "We'd better prepare in advance as military people," the head of state said. According to him, the military units are now mostly at staging areas with only the southern direction and, of course, the western part of the borders reinforced. "Our military sees that it takes at least a month and a half to implement their plans. It takes a month and a half to assemble and start fighting against us," explained Alexander Lukashenko. That's why we, having received the information, started working here."

Alexander Lukashenko commented on the concerns of our citizens about the possible threats to Belarus. There is no reason to panic - this is the main message! Our military has a clear task - every Belarusian must feel protected! Local authorities need to ensure normal operation of the economy and solution of urgent issues of the people.

The Belarusian embassy is trying to organize the evacuation of Belarusian citizens: diplomats are already providing assistance to those in need, but there are so many applications that it is impossible to respond to everything:

"The Belarusian side is making every possible effort to assist our compatriots. At the moment, citizens are evacuated through the checkpoints. About thousand people have turned to Belarusian diplomats for help."

Hotline phones: +38 050 406 23 30; +375173794771; +375173792673

Due to the situation in Ukraine, the Belarusian embassy and the Main Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are open 24 hours a day. The Foreign Ministry strongly recommends to cancel plans to visit Ukraine until the situation stabilizes.