October 17, Pozirk. Juryj Ambrazievič, the Belarusian ambassador to the Vatican and a former deputy foreign minister, held several private meetings with European Union diplomats in Paris earlier this month, Reuters reports.
The Belarusian envoy “requested several meetings with his fellow ambassadors accredited to France, in accordance with standard diplomatic practice,” the report said, citing the Belarusian embassy in Paris, where Ambrazievič is also accredited as envoy to UNESCO.
Belarus wants to break its political isolation as well as contribute to peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and future talks on European security, Reuters said, citing European diplomats.
“They say they don’t want escalation of the conflict, so what they want now is to have an open line of discussion with other states and to underline their differences from Russia,” said one of the diplomats who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity.
Another diplomat had a more skeptical impression of Ambrazievič’s invitation, noting Alaksandar Łukašenka’s steady support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and continuing arrest of Belarusian regime critics after the September 11 pardons.
He also cited a major joint military exercise by Belarus and Russia last month and Łukašenka’s proposal to build a second nuclear power plant in eastern Belarus to provide electricity to Russian-held parts of Ukraine.
The Belarusian ruler wants to ease sanctions on the Belarusian potash industry and restore access Baltic ports to export fertilizers, yet faces resistance from the exiled Belarusian opposition, backed by the Baltic states, the report noted.
