Скриншот видеозаписи
The meeting between Polish and Belarusian Foreign Ministers Radosław Sikorski and Maksim Ryzhankou on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly has not led to the follow-up Minsk had hoped for. This was stated by Aliaksandr Valfovich, State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus.
“There was a tentative attempt, but so far we see no further movement, although Belarus is ready. Our president also spoke about this at an international conference held in Minsk quite recently. The conference attracted interest from many countries concerned with peace and security.
Therefore, of course, we are always ready. Belarus is extending a hand and taking all necessary measures, including steps to stabilise the situation around Ukraine. Who has an interest in this? First and foremost, the Republic of Belarus. Yes, the Americans are talking about it today, but our country is the only one taking practical steps,” he said on the sidelines of the 14th meeting of CIS security council secretaries, BelTA reported.
Valfovich also spoke in favour of expanding contacts with Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine currently exchange prisoners, other detainees and the bodies of those killed through Belarus.
“We are ready for other contacts and willing to provide Ukraine with humanitarian assistance. This is being noticed, but European politicians are probably not interested in it,” he said.
As a reminder, the meeting between Sikorski and Ryzhankou became public at the end of September. The Polish minister described it at the time as an introductory meeting and confirmed that contacts were taking place at other levels. He compared the meeting to a snowdrop that could bloom if the weather was favourable. In one interview, he described relations between Warsaw and Minsk as a “slight thaw”. Sikorski later said that Ryzhankou had outlined Minsk’s concerns to him about Belarus being drawn into the war.
Ryzhankou described his meeting with Sikorski as defining.