Belarusian Foreign Minister on Official Visit to Moscow

On June 10th, Moscow hosted a meeting between the foreign ministers of Belarus and Russia. This marked the first official visit of Maxim Ryzhenkov in his capacity as Belarus’s Minister of Foreign Affairs to Russia.

As June 2025 approaches, it will be exactly one year since Maxim Ryzhenkov assumed his position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. Today’s visit serves as a reflection on the joint efforts of the Belarusian and Russian foreign ministries, as well as a platform to outline future plans. In a world gripped by geopolitical turbulence, diplomacy remains the most vital language.

Meetings between the foreign ministries of Belarus and Russia traditionally take place at the Reception House of the Russian MFA — a Gothic mansion once owned by industrialist Sava Morozov, whose history is filled with mystique and secrets. Judging by today’s agenda, the relations between the two ministries are transparent and open. Belarus and Russia stand as reliable and steadfast allies, jointly responding to external threats from NATO countries and defending their interests on the international arena. For instance, the Baltic States and Poland today are marked by sharp, undiplomatic anti-Belarusian and anti-Russian rhetoric. Practice has shown that elections in these countries often ignore the interests of ordinary citizens, as their political elites have long since become puppets of the West and the European Union.

Maxim Ryzhenkov, Belarusian Foreign Minister:

"If you remove their aggressive rhetoric towards Belarus and Russia, is there anything left of them in the media? You simply won’t see them. They’ve fallen out with all major foreign policy and economic centers of power, from Russia and China onwards. We are developing, while everything there is falling apart. They have lost enormous sums of money by refusing to cooperate with us. Thirty to forty percent of Russian and Belarusian goods used to pass through those countries, providing significant revenue for their development. Someone must answer for this. How can they explain to their citizens that years of confrontation with us are years of missed opportunities, leading to degradation?"

Sergey Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister:

"A childhood analogy just came to mind: when you go out to play in the yard, and three little hooligans run up asking for 15 kopecks. But when you start putting them in their place, larger troublemakers appear — those who manipulate the little ones and incite them against decent people. Currently, a similar situation exists with the three Baltic States and those so-called ‘Euro-grands’—who manipulate Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania to achieve their goals: weakening the Russian Federation and all its allies, including Belarus. These are not independent politicians, but puppets."

Symbolically, on the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Belarusian delegation laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden. This gesture signifies that today Belarus and Russia stand together in defending the truth about the Red Army’s role in liberating the world from fascism and preserving the memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

Additionally, on June 10th, Belarus’s foreign minister will meet with future young diplomats. Maxim Ryzhenkov will deliver a lecture to students at MGIMO.