Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister urges Vilnius to meet Belarus's terms – "Caught red-handed"
Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has urged Vilnius to meet Belarus’s terms and adopt a “pragmatic” approach to negotiations with Minsk. In his view, the Lithuanian authorities may also be leaning in this direction due to pressure from the Americans.
According to Landsbergis, the administration of US President Donald Trump seeks to reach some form of agreement with Minsk or at least improve relations with Alexander Lukashenko, reported the Lithuanian portal LRT.
«And for this, he needs bargaining chips. Clearly, he is distributing these chips,» stated the former Lithuanian foreign minister, referring to the lifted US sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilisers.
Similar European sanctions remain in force until the end of February, which is why, as LRT noted, some European analysts have expressed concerns that Washington may begin to exert pressure on Europe and Lithuania regarding this issue.
«Yes, perhaps, but there is no direct pressure from the US, I can confirm that,» said Deividas Matulionis, chief advisor to the President of Lithuania.
In turn, Linas Linkevičius, former Lithuanian foreign minister and ambassador to Sweden, suggested «extracting benefit from this» for his country and, in the event of pressure from Washington, demanding «certain security guarantees» from the Americans.
However, Landsbergis urged official Vilnius to «approach this pragmatically,» especially if the Americans decide to push the issue. The ex-head of the Lithuanian foreign ministry proposed starting negotiations with official Minsk now, including on the issue of smuggled balloons at the border and Lithuanian lorries stranded in Belarus.
«We failed to stop the attack, which means we must ask Lukashenko to cease the attack and be prepared to pay any price he demands. If we are caught in the act, and we have already been caught red-handed, they will break that hand,» Landsbergis stated.
Belarusian authorities have repeatedly stressed their non-involvement in launching smuggled balloons at the border and have called any accusations of deliberate «attacks» unfounded and contrived. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko placed responsibility for launching the balloons on the Lithuanians themselves. According to him, citizens of that country decided to make money by reselling Belarusian cigarettes, and the Lithuanian authorities, by closing the border with Belarus, themselves «pushed them onto the path of crime.»
Лукашенко обвинил литовцев в запуске шаров из Беларуси в Литву — «Не вижу, за что наказывать»
It should be noted that Lukashenko, speaking last week at the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, stated that Lithuania, which had long refused to elevate negotiations on the border situation with Belarus above a technical level, is now prepared to engage in dialogue with Minsk at the level of deputy foreign ministers.
In response, Lithuanian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kristina Belikovа said that Lithuania is indeed considering the possibility of talks at the level of an ambassador-at-large. However, neither side has reported any progress thus far. Nevertheless, in Minsk, the latest statement from the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry was described as an «evolution in public statements.»
«Уведомлений не получали» — МИД Беларуси отреагировал на «эволюцию» в Литве