Belarus’ diplomat at UN: Only negotiations can stop the bloodshed in Ukraine

Only through the negotiation process it is possible to put an end to the bloodshed and achieve peace, Belarus' Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Pavel Yevseyenko said at the informal Arria-formula meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine in New York, BelTA has learned.

“Today we have to state an unprecedented level of tension and mistrust, entailing further military escalation in the Eastern European region. The coup d'etat in 2014, the provocation of domestic conflict in Ukraine for more than eight years, its violent pitting against Russia, and also the uncontrolled pumping of weapons into the region have created all the prerequisites for both countries to become a virtually existential threat to each other,” the diplomat said.

According to him, the Minsk agreements, Minsk-2, Security Council resolution 2202 were a missed opportunity to resolve the situation in Ukraine, being actually ignored, including by certain countries - the so-called guarantors of these documents.

“We would like to remind you once again: Belarus made every effort to ensure contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian sides to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. As everyone is well aware, Belarus stood at the origins of the Minsk agreements and a set of measures to implement them,” Pavel Yevseyenko stressed.

Throughout the conflict, Belarus did its best to organize negotiations between the two countries, ensuring that they were held at the highest level, including within the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group.

“Western countries, instead of recognizing the contribution of our country to peace in the region, cynically prefer to punish Belarus with even tougher sanctions. But this is a dead end. This policy will not bring peace. We urge once again to be solely responsible for understanding that false accusations and sanctions will only further escalate the serious conflict in Europe,” said the diplomat. “It is extremely important to have a full, not distorted by propaganda, perception of the situation in the region, and try to hear the principled position of our country.”

“We emphasize that only through the negotiation process it is possible to end the bloodshed and achieve peace. Belarus has already done a lot and will continue doing its best to resolve the conflict,” Pavel Yevseyenko said.