Belarus says confidential contacts with Ukraine remain ongoing

Belarus and Ukraine continue to maintain confidential channels of communication aimed at exchanging information and finding areas of common ground, Belarusian Permanent Representative to the UN, Valentin Rybakov, told a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

According to Rybakov, recent “public and impulsive” statements by Ukraine directed at Belarus indicate “a desire for further escalation of the conflict.” He stressed that Belarus opposes escalation and views diplomacy and negotiations as the only viable path toward resolving the conflict.

“A professional confidential dialogue between Minsk and Kyiv continues for the exchange of information and the search for common ground. This dialogue is producing results, and it will continue,” he said.

Rybakov also noted that exchanges of prisoners of war and the repatriation of the bodies of Russian and Ukrainian servicemen are being carried out with the mediation of Belarus.

By Jeyhun Aghazada