Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhankou hopes that Belarus will restore relations with its EU neighbours, and most quickly with Poland.
“Of course,” the minister replied to a BelTA question about whether warming relations with European neighbours should be expected.
The head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said he hopes Poland will “draw a line” under the issue of Belarusians who left the country and begin cooperation with the Belarusian authorities.
“To be honest, I am counting most of all on interaction being restored most quickly with Poland. This is a country that sees itself as a real regional leader and is doing everything to achieve this — pursuing a pragmatic policy in which it cannot afford blank spots. The path with our fugitives is a road to nowhere. I think they will understand this, draw a line under this story and begin building cooperation in the interests of people on both sides of the border, returning to trade, economic and people-to-people interaction with Belarus,” Ryzhankou said.
Ryzhankou described Lithuania as unpredictable and said Minsk would consider whether to resume cooperation.
“Lithuania is a country where politicians, unfortunately, do not think and are not going to think about their own people. They owe their positions not to the Lithuanian people, but to Brussels or Washington party committees. And they will do everything they are told from there. That is why they are unpredictable. It is difficult to work with a partner who wakes up with a headache and falls asleep with a toothache, which changes their mood. And when a window of opportunity for resuming cooperation opens, it will be necessary to think several times about how much to open this window and whether to open it at all,” the Belarusian foreign minister said.
Ryzhankou also mentioned relations with the United States. In his view, establishing communication with Donald Trump became the key result of Belarus’ foreign policy over the year.
“The key result of foreign policy activity in 2025 is the establishment of trusting communication with the President of the United States. We all see how the words and actions of Donald Trump are turning the European Union upside down. And our president communicates with him as an equal, discussing various topics. And the opinion of the Belarusian President on Ukrainian issues, on Venezuela and other matters is valuable to the American leader. Our ship is sailing its own course in a stormy sea, and this is the заслуга of the one standing at the helm,” Ryzhankou said, praising Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
