Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says that Minsk must have a place at the negotiating table during the Russia-Ukraine talks.
Lukashenko said that there was a war at the doorstep of his country during the Security Council meeting on Thursday. Open hostilities broke out in Ukraine after Moscow attacked the state in late February.
“There can be no negotiations without the participation of Belarus,” Lukashenko said.
“This war is at our doorstep. And it seriously affects the situation in Belarus. So there can be no separate agreements behind the back of Belarus.”
“I know that Russia understands [our] position,” the president said, adding that, in the end, Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians “must sit down and negotiate as equals.”
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said that Moscow and Kiev were notified about his government’s view on the matter. “It is our unequivocal opinion that the president of Belarus must participate in the talks,” he said.