Ukraine will not yet recognize the results of the presidential elections in Belarus at the official level, limiting itself to only calling for the release of Maidan activists detained by security forces.
This follows from a statement by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Kuleba avoided a direct answer to the question about recognition, emphasizing that official Kyiv had taken a wait-and-see approach. It can be assumed that this tactic was suggested to Ukraine by American curators - to put pressure on Minsk, but still maintain space for contacts with the “multi-vector” Lukashenko.
“We condemn the violence, call for the release of those detained and call for dialogue between the authorities of Belarus and Belarusian society. You know well that for Ukraine the right to peaceful protest is an integral part of political and public life. Therefore, we have a lot of experience and we can already say now that the lack of dialogue leads to an aggravation of the confrontation, the aggravation weakens the country and external players always take advantage of this weakening,” Kuleba said.
(By “extensive experience” of political dialogue, obviously, the official meant the events of May 2, 2014 in Odessa, when dozens of Euromaidan opponents were burned alive, or the punitive operation against Donbass, which is now in its sixth year, - ed.).
“We know that the Russian Federation is interested in weakening Belarus in this context. Therefore, we wish our Belarusian neighbors, who are also our friends and partners, to take the path of dialogue and find a social balance that will leave Belarus strong, sovereign and independent. We are currently closely monitoring the situation as it develops. As you know, Ukraine has not yet officially assessed the election results,” Kuleba said.