Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 16 February (BelTA) – The mutual understanding with Belarusian diplomats is growing, Charge d’affaires of the United States to Belarus Robert Riley said as he met with students of the Belarusian State University during a visit to the Department of International Relations. A video of Robert Riley’s meeting with the students was posted in the Twitter account of the U.S. Embassy in Belarus, BelTA has learned.

“We work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some of the best diplomats I’ve ever worked with. They work hard to understand others’ perspective, and this is exactly what we are all supposed to do. And I think that slowly but surely, at least in my experience with the individuals I work with, we are getting closer and closer to understanding each other better,” the U.S. diplomat said.

During an online conference on the website of the Belarusian TV and Radio Company on 15 February spokesman for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dmitry Mironchik said that the relations between Belarus and the United States will continue developing, without artificial acceleration and in the spirit of critical dialogue, BelTA reported earlier.

According to Dmitry Mironchik, some positive momentum was gained in the relations between the United States and Belarus during the time of the previous administration. The dialogue continues. “We will continue to move forward calmly in the spirit of critical dialogue, without artificial acceleration,” Dmitry Mironchik said.

“We have a complicated relationship which is multi-level and multi-format. There are issues on which our opinions diverge. What distinguishes our relations today from the situation two or three years ago is that we started to talk about these issues. Calling spade a spade and searching gradually, step by step, for some solutions,” Dmitry Mironchik noted.