The Belarusian Foreign Ministry is awaiting communication with Lithuania’s representative for interaction with Minsk, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ruslan Varankou said.
On the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a correspondent for state-run broadcaster ONT also obtained a comment from Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys. In the comment, Budrys said: “I want to have established contacts with Belarus. It is my dream, truly. Without unnecessary threats. I very much hope that one day we will have excellent relations after we resolve all issues” (translated from English by ONT). Asked whether he was ready to improve relations with Belarus, Budrys replied: “It is my dream”.
ONT asked Varankou to comment on Budrys’ statement.
“In Antalya, Lithuania’s foreign minister said that he dreams of excellent relations with Belarus after all issues are resolved. What is our position, is Minsk ready for dialogue, and what is your overall comment on this?” the ONT correspondent asked.
Varankou said that Belarus is ready for constructive dialogue with Lithuania and is awaiting contacts with a representative of Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry.
“We welcome such a statement. Belarus has always supported good-neighborly and mutually beneficial relations with Lithuania and shares the aspiration for their normalization.
For our part, we confirm our full readiness for constructive dialogue. As previously reported by the media, the Lithuanian foreign ministry has appointed a representative for interaction with Minsk. We are awaiting communication through this channel.
We expect that through joint efforts we will be able to bring bilateral relations to the level that Mr. Budrys spoke about”, Varankou said.
It is worth recalling that U.S. presidential special envoy John Coale supported dialogue between Belarus and Lithuania at the level of deputy foreign ministers after meeting with Alyaksandr Lukashenka in March.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda named three conditions for starting dialogue with Belarus: halting the launch of weather balloons across the border for four weeks, returning Lithuanian trucks detained by the Belarusian side without additional charges, and stopping the illegal movement of migrants across the border.
Since then, the number of migrants at the Lithuanian border has increased, while weather balloons have continued to enter Lithuania. On April 10, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry again threatened to close the border with Belarus if the problems are not resolved.
