Belarus ready to contribute to resolving Kerch conflict - FM


A few days after the conflict in the Kerch Strait, Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey has voiced our country’s position on the crisis.

“The warnings about the world sliding towards the abyss of a major conflict. Last time it was mentioned during the latest session of the Munich Security Conference Core Group. What do we think about it? We are very close to it. Indirectly and directly we feel consequences of this confrontation,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes the minister.

According to him, Belarus does not want any further escalation of tensions as it might have an impact on both regional and international security. He expressed confidence that the two sides of the conflict were fully aware of their being responsible for the situation in the region.

Belarus is ready to make its own contribution to the resolution of the situation and the de-escalation of tensions under the stipulation that all the parties give their consent to it, Makey stressed.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on the statements made by the parties. But there have been no direct contacts. Certainly, it would be important for us to get objective information from one side and the other one in order to have our own real analysis of the situation caused by the incident,” he said.

On November 25, three Ukrainian ships were captured by the Russian special forces in the Kerch Strait. According to Ukrainian media, Russia took prisoner 24 people, 6 sailors were injured. In response, 30-day martial law has been introduced in 10 regions of Ukraine — those bordering Russia, Transnistria and the Black Sea coast, as well as in Chernihiv region bordering Belarus. In turn, Putin called the incident ‘provocation staged by Poroshenko ahead of the presidential election in Ukraine’.

KA, belsat.eu, following BelTA

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