Dapkiunas: Belarus always supported peaceful settlement of conflict in the south-east of Ukraine
This was stated by the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the OSCE, Andrei Dapkiunas, at a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna
“Over the past years, Belarus has been warning, literally sounding the alarm about dangerous escalation of the military-political situation in our region. No one listened to us. Belarus has put forward a number of major initiatives aimed at restarting a broad international dialogue on European security issues that directly correspond to the essence of the Helsinki process, which once brought peace and long-awaited detente to our continent. They nodded their heads approvingly, but no one took them seriously,” noted Andrei Dapkiunas.
The diplomat added that Belarus has repeatedly stated about the danger of the reckless behaviour of the leadership and politicians of a range of western countries, who increasingly prefer undisguised pressure and threats as tools for solving their own and international problems.
“We asked the question: how long can this escalation of tension and hysteria, political and economic coercion, hybrid attacks and aggressive rhetoric continue? In response we heard only reproaches, accusations and new threats! The current situation, regrettably, has become a direct consequence of such a reckless policy of the West, aimed at pushing its own interests to the detriment of the security of others. This led to a rapid increase of tension in the Eastern European region, the degradation of the international security system that has been created for decades, and depreciation of international treaties and agreements,” said Andrei Dapkiunas.
The diplomat underlined that Belarus does not need any war. It has already exhausted its limit of wars in its long and complicated history.
“Therefore, we categorically reject any insinuations regarding any Belarus’ involvement in the events taking place in Ukraine. The Head of State particularly emphasised that the Belarusian troops do not take any part in the Russian special operation in Donbass. Moreover, the President of Belarus deliberately clarified that the Russian leadership had never put such a question. Moreover, we tried to prevent escalation in every possible way. In particular, the military leadership of Ukraine held talks with their Belarusian counterparts several times. The last such conversation took place after the meeting of the presidents of Belarus and Russia in Moscow. The nuances of the negotiations between the heads of state were brought to the attention of the Ukrainian side. We offered our Ukrainian colleagues to establish direct contact with the Russian side and were ready to provide appropriate assistance in this, but our proposal was ignored. We express our regret that all opportunities to prevent this conflict were not used,” said the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the OSCE.
He added, “The Republic of Belarus has always actively and consistently advocated a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the south-east of Ukraine. Even now we consider diplomatic methods to be a priority and are ready to contribute to this process in every possible way. We regret that Ukraine broke off diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation.”
“As Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed, Belarus will not be drawn into the war. In the current situation, it is necessary to look for ways to prevent bloodshed and mass slaughter. To stop escalation, it is necessary to sit down at the negotiating table. Such negotiations could take place in Minsk. Successful experience of meetings in the Belarusian capital in 2014-2015 shows that, with political will, peace can be restored. The path of negotiations in our understanding is the only correct way to prevent bloodshed between the fraternal Slavic peoples,” summed up Mr. Dapkiunas.
