MINSK. Aug 21 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has responded to French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to become a mediator along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Charles Michel in dialogue between the current administration and Belarusian civil society.
"Macron said he wants to be a mediator in the talks in Belarus. I suggest that I come first and will be a mediator between the 'yellow vests' and Macron," Lukashenko said on Friday at a meeting with the staff of the agricultural enterprise Dzerzhinsky. A video fragment of the president's speech was released by the Telegram channel Pul Pervogo, which is close to his press service.
Lukashenko also criticized the position stated by U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, whom he called with irony "a great friend of the people of Belarus." "Mike Pompeo is a great friend of the people of Belarus, he has recently made a statement characterizing the situation [...] They should set their own things in order first [...] Why are they concerned?" Lukashenko said.
"The Germans have this coronavirus problem, demonstrations [...] Why are they concerned about Belarus?" the president said.
"It's a convenient situation to take attention away from their problems and throw on the other side," he said.