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Belarus interested in Ukraine’s territorial integrity

"We consider the developments in Ukraine a tragedy," Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei said

Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei ITAR-TASS/ Alexei Nikolsky

Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei

© ITAR-TASS/ Alexei Nikolsky

MINSK, February 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Belarus is interested in preserving territorial integrity of neighboring Ukraine. Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei said this on Friday, adding that the current developments in Ukraine could be described as utter tragedy.

“We negatively assess what is currently going on in Ukraine… We consider the developments in Ukraine a tragedy,” the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying after talks with his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics in Riga.

According to Makei, Minsk was interested in Ukraine’s “remaining a sovereign, independent and territorially integral country”.

He stressed that it was not a right moment to look back and try to find who was right and who was wrong. “However, I do think that at some point in the past, either before the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit (in late November 2013) or right after it, certain steps could have been taken that would have averted this tragedy,” the Belarusian foreign minister said, adding that his words were applicable to all the parties involved in the process.

“The key task now is to regain stability, to prevent more bloodshed and to ensure smooth work of authorities that must be legitimate,” he noted.

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