UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – Belarusian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov said on Saturday that no peace settlement project on the Ukraine conflict would succeed without Russia’s participation.
“If everyone, like neighboring Belarus, realized what is really happening in the conflict zone [in Ukraine] and what it threatens, and really wanted to stop the bloody confrontation between two fraternal peoples, then Ukraine would have been with Russia not on the battlefield, but at the peace negotiation table a long time ago. In this context, initiatives like the Brazilian-Chinese peace plan are very well-timed. However, no project will be successful without Russia’s participation,” Ryzhenkov said during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
The foreign minister noted that there could be no new European security architecture without Belarus’ participation.
Minsk continues to offer its peacekeeping efforts on the Ukraine conflict and will do everything to achieve a peace settlement, including by continuing to promote the initiative of holding a global security dialogue, Ryzhenkov added.
Ryzhenkov also conveyed Minsk’s concerns about NATO forces being built up on its borders, saying it could get out of control and lead to a possible global escalation.
“NATO continues to boost its military capabilities on our western borders. Tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of pieces of equipment. We seriously fear that the ‘game’ may get out of control and lead to an escalation of conflict on a regional and even global scale with disastrous consequences for all,” Ryzhenkov said during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
