Кястутис Будрис. Фото: urm.lt
Lithuania is ready to send an ambassador-at-large to Belarus for talks, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys told the outlet 15min, as reported by LRT.
«Such a level [an ambassador-at-large] would be possible on our side. We have provided for this. We have repeatedly sent such a proposal to Belarus, both verbally and in writing», Budrys said.
The head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry expressed doubts about the usefulness of negotiations with Belarus and said that more serious talks with Minsk would require »approval at the national level».
«These are issues that we have no authority to discuss, because they fall within the competence of the European Union. Sanctions immediately fall away, because this is not Lithuania’s decision alone», Budrys said.
Earlier, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said it had proposed holding talks with the Belarusian side on the sidelines of the OSCE ministerial summit on December 4 at the level of a special envoy, but the Belarusian delegation was not satisfied with this format and refused the meeting. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that it had offered the Lithuanian side consultations on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting, but that the proposal was not accepted.
Belarus insists on political talks at the level of foreign ministries, while Alyaksandr Lukashenka has put forward a number of demands to Lithuania.