Фото: t.me/BelarusMFA
Belarus has been conducting an “intensive” non-public dialogue with the West over the past year. Deputy Foreign Minister Ihar Sakreta stated this in an interview with the state television channel First Information.
According to him, Belarusian diplomats regularly meet with directors of political departments and deputy foreign ministers of Western countries, and these meetings are not publicized.
“A non-public dialogue has been taking place very intensively over the past year. We regularly meet with our colleagues — directors of political departments and deputy ministers — both in capitals and on the sidelines of international organizations. It is not publicized. A fairly broad range of issues is discussed, from politics and the economy to countering unilateral coercive measures. We express our positions and opinions, argue, debate, and do not agree on everything,” he said.
According to Sakreta, over the past year the Belarusian point of view has begun to be “understood much better” and “people have started listening to it.”
“Yes, perhaps we have not managed to completely change the policies of certain Western European states. But the fact that our colleagues now continue the conversation with topics that are familiar and normal for us — the economy, cooperation in culture, cooperation between other agencies — already says a lot,” the diplomat stated.
He linked these processes to a growing “understanding” that Western sanctions packages have exhausted their potential.
“They see that businesses from their own countries are also suffering economic losses. And in fact, there are probably more advantages in building normal contacts and maintaining normal, civilized trade than in preserving sanctions. Besides, issues of global security concern everyone in our region,” he said.
The telephone conversation between Aliaksandr Lukashenka and Emmanuel Macron was described by the deputy minister as a useful signal that could provide “momentum” for further work at the level of specific agencies.