Ukrainian officials could meet Belarusian leader, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that senior Ukrainian officials could meet self-proclaimed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko if doing so could help save lives or influence the course of the war.

Source: European Pravda, citing Yaroslav Chornohor, Ambassador-at-Large at Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an interview with Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service

Details: The ambassador was asked whether Kyiv would consider any meetings with Lukashenko and whether there was anything that could be negotiated with him.

Chornohor replied that "there is a category of values and there is a category of survival", and that talks could take place if they were necessary.

"If, in wartime, it becomes necessary to reduce the number of casualties or to stop the hostilities altogether – and for that purpose the president of Ukraine or any Ukrainian government official needs to meet a particular adversary or representative of the opposing side – then such steps may be taken," he said.

"I am not saying that this will necessarily happen. But if the value of such a meeting makes it worthwhile, particularly for the sake of saving human lives, then anything is possible," the ambassador added.

He noted that some communication between Minsk and Kyiv remains in place and that relations have not been severed.

"Again, we see regular exchanges of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war taking place via Belarusian territory. This would not be possible without communication with the Lukashenko regime. We can therefore assume – and we see practical examples of this – that such communication is taking place. At what level and who exactly is meeting whom is unknown," he added.

Background:

• On the anniversary of the crackdown on protests in Belarus, Ukraine's foreign minister stressed that Kyiv distinguishes between the Belarusian people and the Lukashenko regime.
• During a visit to Kyiv in May, Belarusian democratic opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said that Belarus's fate depends on Ukraine's victory.

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