MINSK. Sept 12 (Interfax) - The Belarusian authorities will not allow Minsk to be drawn into the Ukraine conflict, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov said.
"We are determined to prevent our country from being drawn into this conflict, and Belarus has a whole range of instruments for that," the Foreign Ministry's press service quoted Ryzhenkov as saying at the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Rail transit along the Belarusian section of the China-Europe-China route and steps to increase Belarus-China trade and redirect Belarus's trade flows to Asian markets are relevant, he said.
"The Belt and Road has become a kind of 'security belt' for us. There have been attempts from time to time to speculate on the role of Belarus as a key element of overland transit. Vocal threats in relation to the railway transit between China and Europe have been heard regularly, including from Warsaw. However, Belarus's responsible policy, the actual situation on the ground and the pragmatism of the Europeans themselves are having their effect. The railway transit via the Belarusian section of the China-Europe-China route has been growing rapidly, increasing by 74% at the beginning of the year, and is nearing its all-time high," he said.
"Given the situation in Ukraine and the restrictions in the Baltic countries, Belarus is the only overland route to Europe," he said.
"We are redirecting our trade to Asia, and we are pleased that China has become Belarus's second largest trade partner. Our bilateral trade with the far-off China may surpass trade with the neighboring European Union," Ryzhenkov said.
Belarus pursues ambitious goals in the Eurasian context and as part of the Belt and Road initiative, he said.
"For instance, it is about combining our country's industrial development with China's. While the West is trying to oust Chinese technologies under trumped-up pretexts, we will become an example of their large-scale application in Europe. The same is true for other areas, ranging from education to traditional Chinese medicine. We are confident in our success thanks to the Great Stone industrial park, which is China's largest foreign project located in Belarus," he said.
The aim of the Belt and Road initiative is integration rather than division, Ryzhenkov said.
"That is why, we don't turn our back on our Western neighbors. On the contrary, we are taking steps to meet them halfway and continue to demonstrate our readiness to build a common international community together," he said.