The US envoy met with Lukashenko. Ukrainians criticize: he is afraid of Putin

The leader of Belarus Alaxandr Lukashenko met on Saturday in Minsk with a special envoy of the US President for Ukraine Keith Kellogg – said the state agency Belarusian Belta, citing Lukashenko's press office.

The conversation took place at the headquarters of the President of Belarus, the Palace of Independence.

According to Biełt, Łukaszenka assessed that Kellogg's visit to the Belarusian capital “had a lot of noise in the world.” “I hope that our conversation will be very honest and open. Otherwise, what is the sense of the meeting? If we run and smart, we will not reach an agreement,” he said.

“We live in very dangerous times when the crises we face can escalate, increase, if we are not smart and just,” answered an American politician.

Lukashenko assured a representative of the US authorities that he would be “completely safe in Belarus and at that time (his visits – PAP) there will be no escalation not only in Belarus, but also around (her – PAP)”.

He informed about the planned visit of Kellogg in Belarus on Tuesday, citing his sources in the US administration. According to them, the visit was to serve as an opportunity to raise the topic of freeing political prisoners from European countries detained in Belarusian prisons. According to Reuters, the journey would also improve the atmosphere of conversations regarding the end of the Russian war in Ukraine due to the fact that Lukashenko is considered a key ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainians criticize

Media reports about Kellogg's visit to Minsk were commented on by the adviser to the President of Ukraine Wołodymyr Zełenski Mychajło Podolak in a conversation with the RBK-Ukrain portal published on Wednesday. As he assessed, an attempt to influence Putin through Lukashenko “This is a wrong strategy because the Belarusian dictator Alaxandr Lukashenko is not an influential entity And it works quite carefully. “According to him, Lukashenko will not interfere in this matter because he” is afraid of Putin. “

Lukashenko held a previous meeting with a representative of the US administration at such high level in 2020; He met with the then US Secretary of State Mik Pompeo, when he visited Belarus – noted the Reuters agency. At that time, during the first term of the US President Donald Trump, Pompeo's journey was to improve Washington's relations with Minsk. It was the first meeting of this rank for over 20 years.

With the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US embassy in Minsk suspended its activity because Belarus released its territory to conduct an attack on Ukraine. (PAP)

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