Russia insists on including Belarus in agreements with Ukraine, Senior Diplomat says
Moscow insists that Belarus should be included in future agreements with Ukraine, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second CIS Department Alexey Polishchuk said in an interview with TASS.
“It’s not just that Moscow does not rule out Minsk’s participation in the agreement. We do insist on including Belarus in this process as a participant in future agreements and one of the guarantor countries. It will make it possible to ensure a balance in the ‘club’ of such countries,” he pointed out.
“Clearly, all this has been discussed with our Belarusian friends who, as I have already said, are facilitating the talks, providing a platform for them,” Polishchuk added.
Russia and Ukraine have been in talks since February 28, Russia’s delegation is headed by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky. Several meetings took place in Belarus, then the parties continued negotiations via video conference. An in-person round of talks was held in Istanbul on March 29. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on April 12 that Kiev had departed from agreements reached in Turkey, bringing the process to an impasse.
