{"id":516022,"date":"2026-02-10T10:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T07:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=516022"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:15:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:15:50","slug":"lithuania-s-ruling-party-leader-assesses-prospects-for-dialogue-with-minsk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/lithuania-s-ruling-party-leader-assesses-prospects-for-dialogue-with-minsk","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania\u2019s Ruling Party Leader Assesses Prospects for Dialogue With Minsk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The chairman of Lithuania\u2019s ruling Social Democratic Party, Mindaugas Sinkevi\u010dius<\/b>, has allowed for the possibility of starting a dialogue with official Minsk, but said it would only be possible after the extension of European sanctions. The politician also sees preconditions for revising foreign policy toward Belarus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think only then will we be able to return to this issue,\u201d<\/i> he said on \u017dini\u0173 radijas.<\/p>\n

The potential meeting would not necessarily have to take place at the level of a deputy foreign minister, LRT wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cA meeting and a conversation, hypothetically speaking, can be of a very different nature. Lithuania can express its dissatisfaction over balloons, over hybrid attacks \u2014 that could be the substance of the conversation. The content of the discussion could also be different,\u201d<\/i> Sinkevi\u010dius added.<\/p>\n

He also doubts that such talks could take place in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it is worth considering such a meeting already now \u2014 in February or March \u2014 I doubt it. But I cannot say that it is absolutely taboo in the longer term. (\u2026) In general, diplomacy and foreign policy are about conversation. Not about silence and not about something else, but precisely about conversation: even if you state your position, do not receive a positive assessment, possibly quarrel, exchange positions and part ways,\u201d<\/i> he added.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Sinkevi\u010dius believes there are preconditions for revising the policy of the previous government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to see the broader picture: decisions of the European Union, national decisions, the interests of America. Because this is not the picture of a single issue \u2014 it does not reflect the entire spectrum of related topics,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

The politician stressed that national security should come first, while economic issues, including fertilizer transit, are secondary.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd economic issues \u2014 fertilizers, transit and everything else \u2014 are already a secondary level. The security component is key, because it was precisely because of security issues, because of Minsk\u2019s participation in the aggression against Ukraine, that sanctions were introduced. The question is how these sanctions have changed the functioning of Belarus, how they have not changed it, whether they need to be strengthened or replaced with dialogue,\u201d<\/i> he reasoned, noting that the Social Democrats are not \u201cturning toward the eastern sun\u201d and are maintaining a transatlantic course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chairman of Lithuania\u2019s ruling Social Democratic Party, Mindaugas Sinkevi\u010dius, has allowed for the possibility of starting a dialogue with official Minsk, but said it would only be possible after the extension of European sanctions. The politician also sees preconditions for revising foreign policy toward Belarus. \u201cI think only then will we be able to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":516021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/698ae93b8c483.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Lithuania\u2019s Ruling Party Leader Assesses Prospects for Dialogue With Minsk"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-516022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}