Lavrov: Vladimir Makei was a great friend of Russia

"Vladimir Makei was a great and sincere friend of Russia and a true patriot of his homeland. His untimely death was a real tragedy for everyone." The Russian Foreign Minister visited the Belarusian Embassy in Moscow and left an entry in the book of condolences in memory of his colleague, with whom they had met just a week ago in Yerevan at the CSTO summit and was planning to meet in Minsk in the offing.

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister:

The tragic occasion for the visit to the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus is the untimely, completely unexpected death of Vladimir Vladimirovich Makei, Minister of Foreign Affairs, an outstanding diplomat, statesman, a true patriot of his homeland, a great sincere friend of our country. Many people have been much put about by the news of his tragic death. I think we should learn some lessons from this. We must take care of each other, our allies, our friends and loved ones. We will unconditionally continue to strengthen the Union State, the CSTO, the EAEU, and the CIS. We shall do it with redoubled vigor in memory of our friend who sought to achieve the specific results in all these areas. May the memory of him live forever!

Vladimir Makei passed away on November 26. He had been the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry since 2012.