Today at 20:06
Photo from Belta.by
Today, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko met with the Ukrainian Trilateral Contact Group representative and former Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma in Minsk.
On Monday, Kuchma returned to his former post as Ukraine’s Tripartite Contact Group representative, a group created in an attempt to end the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Kuchma had resigned in the fall of 2018, but agreed to current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s proposal to head the post again, as Zelenskyi views Kuchma as a potentially useful negotiator.
“Politics, Leonid Danilovich, you will not let go in any way. But this is for the best,” Lukashenko said, LB.ua reported. “I have to say that this assessment is not only mine, it’s that of a large part of our Belarusians. They appreciate your visit to Belarus. And not only as a representative in this tripartite contact group.”
Kuchma said that Belarusians know that he has a positive attitude toward them.
The politicians also discussed the possibility of future bilateral cooperation between Belarus and Ukraine.
“I think you will tell me a lot of things after the recent events. With your experience, you review these events from a certain political angle. I will be very happy to hear. In a word, I am glad to see you here. And despite the fact that I should be on a business trip today, I moved it in order to meet with you and discuss those issues that should be resolved in a bilateral, and maybe a multilateral format,” Lukashenko said.
