Макрон созвонился с Лукашенко впервые за четыре года

Alexander Lukashenko spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, Lukashenko’s press service reported.

Разговор, как утверждается, прошел по инициативе французской стороны. Macron and Lukashenko discussed “regional problems and relations between Belarus and the EU and France in particular.”

Источники французского телеканала TF1/LCI подтвердили , что разговор был. According to them, Macron, in particular, “emphasized the risks for Belarus associated with Russia’s possible involvement in an aggressive war against Ukraine.” “He also called on Alexander Lukashenko to take the necessary steps to improve relations between Belarus and Europe,” the source said.

Macron last spoke to Lukashenko on February 26, 2022, a few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Then the French president wrote that he “asked Alexander Lukashenko to ensure the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of his country” - and that Belarus should not become “a de facto accomplice of Russia in the war against Ukraine.”

Today’s call took place after Russia launched an Oreshnik attack on Ukrainian territory. Macron said that France “condemns this attack and the use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile, which above all indicates an attempt at further escalation and a deadlock in the war of aggression.”

• After Donald Trump came to his second presidential term, relations with the United States began to improve in Belarus, but with Europe they still remain tense, and European sanctions continue to apply, although Washington is lifting restrictions on Minsk. Bloomberg sources said that the United States is putting pressure on Ukraine and asking Kiev to convince European countries to ease restrictions on the import of potash fertilizers from Belarus.