Ukraine's Foreign Ministry warns Belarusian President of the consequences of his meeting with "head" of occupied part of Donetsk Oblast

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says that the meeting between self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and the leader of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast), Denis Pushilin, will have negative consequences for Ukrainian-Belarusian relations.

Source: statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Details: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemned the meeting between Lukashenko and Pushilin on 19 September, which the ministry views as another example of Belarusian disregard for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Quote from the Foreign Ministry: "This meeting is yet another confirmation that the position of the current Belarusian authorities on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is solely driven by the Kremlin's instructions and has nothing to do with international law or the international obligations of the Republic of Belarus.

Ukraine rejects the hypocritical rhetoric of Alexander Lukashenko regarding the ‘principles’ of cooperation with the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and considers it another evidence of support for the war of aggression against our country.

We call on the Belarusian people to realise that against the backdrop of repeated contacts between Belarusian officials and Russian puppet governors from Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories, repeated statements by Alexander Lukashenko about his ‘warm feelings’ towards the ‘fraternal Ukrainian people’ sound like a mockery, and in practice his actions destroy the principles of good neighbourliness and mutual respect on which relations between the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples were built.

These unfriendly actions of the political leadership of Belarus cannot be left without a proper response and will have negative consequences for Ukrainian-Belarusian relations."

Background:

• On Thursday 19 September, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with the leader of the so-called DPR Denis Pushilin and declared his readiness to develop cooperation with the Russian-occupied region.
• Lukashenko also cynically noted that he was "ready to cooperate with Ukraine on the same basis as with the DPR".

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