Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 12 November (BelTA) – The American side sees the negotiation process in Minsk in a positive light on the whole. The statement was made by U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Belarus Scott Rauland during the international conference held on 12 November to discuss frozen conflicts in the post-Soviet space, BelTA has learned. The conference has been organized within the framework of the Minsk Dialogue initiative.

The U.S. diplomat said: “For a long time we have been analyzing the conflicts and the conditions that brought them about. We would like to say that we have seen the Minsk dialogue in a positive light on the whole.”

He also noted that the dialogue of experts in Minsk today is important. “The dialogue helps us secure trust,” said Scott Rauland.

The diplomat also remarked that frozen conflicts have existed in the post-Soviet space for quite some time. He explained that he had personally observed the conflict in Nagorny Karabakh in the early 1990s. The Charge d'Affaires assured that the USA is concerned about such conflicts.

In turn, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Belarus Peter Dettmar stressed that the agenda of the conference held on 12 November was extremely topical. He also reminded that when the USSR collapsed about 25 years ago everyone hoped that a new multipolar age would begin after the cold war. “There was new hope that more than two powers would bear responsibility for the world. But one world order ceased to exist to be replaced by a different world order. Today’s world is neither multipolar nor bipolar. There are no poles at all. A new form of the world order is not sought through civilized means but through violence, including in North Africa and the Middle East,” said the Ambassador.

The diplomat said he believes that the crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine is the greatest crisis for Europe since the cold war. Peter Dettmar underlined that it is necessary to continue the process that began in Helsinki 70 years ago when the OSCE emerged. Among other things it is necessary to restore trust between the sides.