Дейвидас Матуленис. Фото: flickr.com/photos/internationaltransportforum/
Chief adviser to the Lithuanian president Deividas Matulionis said that Vilnius is being forced into a dialogue with Minsk.
Matulionis stressed that Lithuania is ready to improve relations with Belarus, but Minsk must demonstrate systemic changes.
“We are indeed ready to improve these relations, but there must be systemic changes from the Belarusian side—towards democratization, a reduction in support for the Russian military industry, and possibly greater independence of Belarus,” he told LRT TELEVIZIJA.
Matulionis believes that Lithuania is being pushed to enter into dialogue with Belarus in a way that would amount to diplomatic humiliation.
“This is a kind of forced attempt to draw us into dialogue and, perhaps in some sense, to humiliate us diplomatically. (…) I am speaking about Belarus’s position. (…) Then there will be grounds for Aliaksandr Lukashenka to claim that they have returned, finally understood whom they should talk to, and so on. There is also a question of self-respect, which is very important,” the Lithuanian presidential adviser said.
It was ранее reported that US presidential envoy John Coale said he hopes for the start of dialogue between Vilnius and Minsk at the level of deputy foreign ministers. He also said that Belarusian potash fertilizers should transit through Lithuania.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė allowed for the possibility of a deputy minister-level meeting if a number of conditions are met: resolving issues with weather balloons and illegal migration, and the return of trucks to Lithuania without additional fees and fines. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that contacts with Belarus at a certain level are possible if the Belarusian regime shows goodwill and does not pose threats to Lithuania. Belarus’s Foreign Ministry said that Minsk is ready for dialogue, but without preconditions.