Джон Коул. Скриншот видео: t.me/pul_1
U.S. presidential envoy for Belarus John Coale has commented on criticism of his meeting with European Parliament member Petras Gražulis and two members of the Lithuanian Seimas — Rimas Jankūnas and Ignas Vėgėlė. The meeting took place in Vilnius ahead of Coale’s visit to Minsk.
“I meet with lots of people to get the viewpoints of many. Doesn’t mean I agree or don’t agree. But I learn.” Coale wrote on X.
The comment came in response to a post by Valery Tsepkalo, a would-be candidate in Belarus’s 2020 presidential election, who drew attention to criticism of the meeting from Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
Nausėda, in turn, expressed the view that the current White House administration is seeking out politically like-minded figures.
“I think that before meeting with such people, one should very carefully determine whom they represent and what values they uphold, and then perhaps the desire to meet would diminish,” the Lithuanian leader said.
It was previously reported that the meeting had been organised by Gražulis through the Group of Sovereign Nations of Europe, which maintains ties with the Donald Trump administration. According to him, the discussion covered relations with Belarus, weather balloons, detained Lithuanian trucks and fertiliser sanctions. The participants’ position differs from that of the Lithuanian government — in particular, they support political-level dialogue with Minsk.
It should be noted that Vėgėlė ran for president of Lithuania in 2024, finishing third. During the campaign, he said he would prefer Belarus to be a non-democratic state that would serve as a buffer zone with Russia. He also opposed the presence of the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Vilnius. During the presidential campaign, a journalistic investigation was also published raising suspicions that his family’s business may have been involved in circumventing sanctions.