Off the wire
• Roundup: Scientists detect gravitational waves 100 years after Einstein's prediction  • Israeli PM names new head of security agency  • 1st LD Writethru: Gold rises to highest level in year as U.S. equities fall sharply  • Russia to continue its snap military drills: Putin  • S. African gov't committed to developing nuclear energy: president  • Central banks's influence on interest rates greatly diminished  • Africa Economy: President Zuma vows to market S. Africa as preferred destination for investments  • 1st LD Writethru: Director-General of UNESCO becomes candidate for next Secretary-General  • 1st Lead: 4 Oregon holdouts surrender, ending standoff with FBI  • S. Sudan's president appoints rebel leader as 1st vice-president  
You are here: 　 Home

Belarus totally against new confrontations, dividing lines in Europe

Xinhua, February 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said Thursday that his country is totally against new confrontations and dividing lines in Europe.

Belarus continues to advocate for early peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, Makei said at the international conference One Year of Minsk-II Accords: Achievements, Challenges and Lessons Learned.

The Belarusian side has always stood for the resolution of conflicts in a civilized way, without the use of military force, without exerting political and economic pressure, the minister stressed.

Makei expressed the view that the dynamics of contemporary events clearly demonstrates that the ability to continue the dialogue is very important for the resolution of the conflict.

According to the minister, different views on internal government processes and foreign policy milestones should not be the reason for confrontations and new dividing lines. On the contrary, an ample use of opportunities and advantages by every state can make an important contribution to the creation of strong and prosperous Europe, he added.

The minister believes that the Minsk format of negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis has justified itself, but added that if all the interested parties fulfilled the Minsk agreement, the conflict would have been terminated.

Makei noted that in matters of conflict Belarus didn't take any position and proceeded from its national interests. "Western politicians see that our commitment is sincere, that we are not trying to get some political dividends. We are really interested in peace in Ukraine as soon as possible," he added.

Martin Sajdik, special representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the trilateral contact group on Ukraine, said all the parties to the conflict in Ukraine viewed the Minsk talks as the only way out of the situation in Ukraine.

There is no worthy alternative to Minsk, he said. However, despite the fact that the parties undertook a series of commitments a year ago, the conflict in Ukraine has not been settled yet.

On Feb.11, 2015 the heads of "Norman Quartet" countries gathered in Minsk. After almost 17-hour marathon talks they reached the political agreement on the settlement of the situation in Donbass. Officially, these agreements are referred to as a set of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements. Endit