Belarus security chief seeks dialogue with Ukraine

The head of Belarus’s security agency said his institution was trying to build contacts with Ukraine to help achieve a settlement of its more than 3-1/2-year-old war with Russia, the country’s state news agency reported on Sunday.

Ivan Tertel’s comments to state television followed reports last week that a senior Belarusian diplomat had held meetings with Europeans to try to ease the isolation long imposed on his country, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tertel, whose remarks were reported by the Belta news agency, said meetings with Ukrainian officials were vital “in the current situation in order to come up with a consensus”.

“This work is also going on. Of course, a lot here depends on the Ukrainian side. Our president is working as much as he can to stabilize the situation in the region,” said Tertel, whose agency still uses its Soviet-era acronym KGB.

“And we have found a balance of the two sides’ interests in this very complicated situation with a tendency towards tension. I am convinced that we can eliminate this situation only through quiet talks and the search for compromise.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko allowed the Kremlin to use his country’s territory to launch part of the 2022 war with Ukraine, but has kept his armed forces out of the conflict.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has long been shunned by the West on grounds of human rights violations. Punitive measures intensified after security forces crushed rallies by protesters accusing the president of rigging his 2020 re-election and again because of his support for the invasion.

But US President Donald Trump has appealed to Lukashenko in recent months, calling him a “highly respected leader” and sending an envoy to Minsk, which led to the release of more than 50 political prisoners.

Belarusian media quoted Lukashenko last month as saying that he wanted to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to help facilitate a settlement of the war.— Reuters