Aliaksandr Lukashenka revealed some details of his telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and announced a meeting in Minsk with Macron’s trusted envoy. He told journalists about it during the EAEU summit in Astana on May 29.
According to Lukashenka, the conversation was lengthy and friendly. Among the topics discussed were talks between Belarus and the United States, as well as the role of the United States and Europe in the process of achieving a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.
“The discussion revolved around this topic, but there were countless related issues. We also briefly touched upon the negotiations between the United States and us. We came to a common understanding that all issues of European security and Europe should be resolved in Europe. It is not Donald Trump who should be pushing us toward peace or anything else; we should resolve these issues ourselves because we live here directly. By the way, Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the war in Ukraine is a European issue. He is right. We should move in this direction and solve these problems, rather than waiting for someone to take us, like dead kittens, sit us down at a table somewhere and force us to resolve them. So it was a friendly, good, and, whether you like it or not, long conversation — one hour and 40 minutes. We recalled our previous conversations and so on,” Lukashenka said.
Lukashenka stressed that nobody had pressured or compelled him to do anything, but Macron asked him to meet with his trusted envoy. The meeting is expected to take place in Belarus next week.
“But nobody pressured or forced me. The only thing was that he asked me. I said: ‘Listen, we are talking to each other. This is practically an open line. What can we really discuss? After Yerevan, you did not come to Moscow, and you did not come to Minsk. What is there to talk about?’ He told me: ‘Mr. President, could you receive my trusted envoy and speak with him, and then he could come back and convey everything to me.’”
“I said, of course. If you are afraid to fly to Minsk, send your trusted envoy. In the coming days, literally on Monday or Tuesday, I do not remember exactly, this person will be here. I do not want to name him. He provided his details, and we will have a serious conversation. He is Macron’s person, someone he absolutely trusts, and he is fully informed. I will explain in detail all the problems that exist,” Lukashenka said.
The telephone conversation between Lukashenka and Macron took place on May 24 at the initiative of the French side. Lukashenka’s press service said the two discussed “regional issues and relations between Belarus and the EU, and France in particular.”
