Opinions & Interviews

FM: Belarus maintains critical dialogue with West

An archive photo

MINSK, 22 February (BelTA) - The development of mutually respectful relations is the only way to resolve contradictions with the West, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Aleinik said at a meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, BelTA has learned.

The minister noted that on the western track, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to comprehensively support Belarusian enterprises in maintaining and, where possible, developing trade and economic cooperation. This, according to Sergei Aleinik, was confirmed by the recent visit of Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto to Minsk. During the talks, the parties agreed to convene an intergovernmental commission in the near future, bilateral working groups on agriculture and other areas, reaffirmed their fundamental interest in developing bilateral trade and economic cooperation in areas not affected by the sanctions.

"Where it is in our interest, we maintain a critical dialogue. Our principled position on the counterproductive nature of sanctions and restrictions, the importance of developing mutually respectful relations as the only way to resolve interstate contradictions is communicated to the policy-forming circles of the Western states," the minister emphasized.

"In the field of multilateral diplomacy, primarily the UN and OSCE, despite all the difficulties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued, in cooperation with Russian and Chinese colleagues, to break the consensus in terms of attempts by Western countries to push through their openly anti-Belarusian initiatives. At all multilateral platforms, we promote our approach that there are no alternatives to peace negotiations in resolving conflicts both in the region and in the world," Sergei Aleinik noted.

According to him, Belarus' call for a global dialogue with the involvement of all leading international players in the spirit of San Francisco did not go unnoticed.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks