Belarus’ FM on Lukashenko’s ‘iceberg of contacts’ on sidelines of SCO summit
President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko held many different meetings and negotiations, including informal ones, on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Belarus’ Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov told journalists after the summit, BelTA reports
“The President had a very busy agenda. The negotiations, which have already been covered by the media, are just the tip of the iceberg of contacts that the Head of State had during these days. There were a lot of informal events. The President had ‘on-the-go’ meetings with the heads of almost all delegations,” the Foreign Minister said.
As for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Belarusian leader had a whole series of contacts with him during two days spent in Astana.
“This made it possible to discuss the development of bilateral relations at the top level with many leaders of the states and find solutions,” the Foreign Minister added.
During a meeting with Pakistani PM Shahbaz Sharif, e.g., the parties fully outlined an action plan for the coming months, which should culminate in a top level meeting and the signing of a roadmap for bilateral co-operation. This will be preceded by contacts at the level of prime ministers, ministers, and members of the intergovernmental commission.
The same refers to the President’s talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and co-operation with Turkiye in general. There are agreements on a number of contacts at the level of the foreign and finance ministries. “Visits to Belarus are also scheduled, dealing with the implementation of projects that should bring our trade turnover to an even higher level,” Maksim Ryzhenkov said.
According to him, Aleksandr Lukashenko had a productive meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders discussed the most serious key issues, and then the foreign ministers and governments of the two countries should continue their active work on the bilateral track. Important visits are also expected. All the necessary instructions have been given at the level of the countries’ leadership, and there’s the necessary support from the Chinese leadership.
Given that the SCO presidency was transferred to China, the summit will be held in this country next year, and this will be a good opportunity for the heads of state to meet in person again and, if necessary, discuss certain aspects in the development of bilateral relations.
Aleksandr Lukashenko had another meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, with journalists keen to learn the details.
“During the meeting with the UN Secretary General, a wide range of issues were discussed. I’ve even seen someone writing that allegedly the UN reproached us for something like human rights. In fact, almost the entire meeting was dedicated to the UN activities in Belarus and the beginning of a new cycle of interaction,” Belarus’ Foreign Minister said. “Mr. Guterres particularly underlined that the Republic of Belarus is a very reliable partner in the implementation of all the goals and objectives set by the UN. Then they talked a lot about the Sustainable Development Goals. The Secretary General has repeated several times that he likes the way these goals are being implemented in our country across all directions. It was said that there are no claims against Belarus.”
Maksim Ryzhenkov stressed that there is no ‘special case’ on Belarus that would allow making any claims in the UN, and some questions were tackled only casually and exclusively in the form of an advice.
The Foreign Minister said that he personally had various contacts with foreign colleagues during the summit, e.g., meetings were held with the foreign ministers of Russia and India.
“The SCO countries account for about 40 percent of the global population and about a third of the economic potential. This is a powerful pool of countries, and participation in such summits is important, enabling to outline the tracks of movement along the political, trade-economic and cultural lines. Moreover, the SCO is a great place of attraction for industry dialogues in a whole list of areas: from agriculture and economics to security issues and public initiatives,” he added.
Maksim Ryzhenkov drew attention to the fact that with Belarus’ accession as a SCO full member, this organisation acquires a transcontinental character, because until now there have been no countries whose territory would be located exclusively in Europe. “We’ve introduced a very serious positioning of the organisation. This is the SCO’s first diplomatic ‘offensive’ in Europe in a good way, a springboard for further development and expansion. Our goals are noble and fair,” Belarus’ Foreign Minister stressed.
