The Lithuanian Foreign Minister said he would refuse to engage in negotiations with Belarus on reopening the border after Lukashenko ordered to begin such talks. The head of Lithuania’s foreign policy ministry stressed that the country’s position will not change until the circumstances meet Varti’s own demands.
According to the report, last month Lithuania closed two border crossing points with Belarus until the end of November in response to repeated launches of meteorological balloons from Belarusian territory, which violated airspace and led to the temporary closure of Vilnius airport. Lithuanian officials explain that such signals are used by smugglers to transport illegal cigarettes, and Minsk is accused of continuing these actions as a form of hybrid attack.
“Lukashenko does not set the rules of the game… My firm recommendation to the government is not to follow the path they are trying to impose on us”
– Kestutis Budrys
The head of Lithuania’s foreign policy department added that Lithuania has not been left alone: in his words, the United States is providing full support. He said this after meeting with the Secretary of State and the U.S. president’s special envoy for Belarus during his visit to Washington.
“We have full support from the United States”
– Kestutis Budrys
In the context of Washington’s intensified dialogue with Minsk, the U.S. administration has recently sent several delegations, while Lukashenko seeks to restore relations with the West after a prolonged period of isolation and sanctions.
In September, Belarus released 52 prisoners after Trump’s appeal, who had earlier urged the release of 1,400 political hostages. According to Belarusian official sources, Lukashenko decided to begin negotiations after meeting with the foreign minister, the head of the KGB and the head of the State Border Committee. The president ordered the organization of negotiations to normalize the situation and restore full operation of border-crossing points on the shared border.
According to Lukashenko’s press service, the Lithuanian side allegedly submitted its proposals to settle this situation. Earlier Lukashenko called the border closure a “crazy hoax” and accused the West of waging a hybrid war against Belarus and Russia, which allegedly creates a “new era of barbed-wire barriers”.
Minister Budrys noted that full opening of the border is possible only after the cessation of smuggling balloon launches and the return of about a thousand Lithuanian trucks that remain blocked on Belarusian territory following the implementation of the restrictions.