MINSK. Feb 25 (Interfax) - Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has regretted the deterioration of bilateral relations with Ukraine and the freezing of political dialogue.
"We regret to state the deterioration of Belarusian-Ukrainian relations. The political dialogue was frozen in the second half [of 2020] as a result of Ukraine's stance on Belarus. That impacted mutual trade despite the declared interest of the Ukrainian administration in preserving economic ties," Makei said at a meeting of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry's board on Thursday.
Meanwhile, in 2020, "the strategic cooperation with the Russian Federation, which gave crucial support to Belarus in the post-election period, remained comprehensive and multifaceted," he said.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) stepped up cooperation with other regional unions, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and ASEAN, in the course of Belarusian presidency in this organization, Makei said. "We continued to promote the establishment of sustainable mechanisms of full-fledged dialogue between the EAEU and the EU," he said.
The interaction between Belarus, the majority of CIS member states and Georgia traditionally had a constructive nature and aimed primarily at the development of pragmatic economic cooperation, Makei said.
Belarus has seen continuous protests against the official results of the presidential election that took place on August 9, 2020. The authorities declared incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko the winner. Lukashenko has been in office since 1994. The opposition does not recognize the results of the presidential election, saying the election was rigged. A number of opposition leaders were arrested, and others were forced to leave the country. The protesters are demanding Lukashenko's resignation, the release of political prisoners, and a new election. Belarusian law enforcers are sternly suppressing the protests, which led to a change of the protests' format; protests are held in the courtyards of various neighborhoods of Minsk.
The European Union and the United States do not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus. The EU has imposed sanctions on Belarus. Kyiv said that Ukraine would side with the EU sanctions against Minsk.
In January 2021, Ukrainian Ambassador in Minsk Ihor Kyzym said that bilateral trade turnover dipped 23.5% over the first ten months of 2020. He explained the decline in bilateral trade and economic relations with the coronavirus pandemic, rather than the domestic situation in Belarus, over which the official summit and high-level political contacts between Kyiv and Minsk had been suspended.
The ambassador noted that the setback in relations between the Ukrainian and Belarusian leaders had a negative effect and, combined with the coronavirus pandemic, prevented main economic events of the year, including the Third Forum of Regions planned in Grodno for October, from being held. An official visit of the Ukrainian president to Belarus has also been cancelled.