English

Lukashenka’s spokesman blames postponement of Union State talks on agenda

Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s spokesman has blamed the postponement of a session of the Belarusian-Russian Union State’s Supreme State Council on a lack of important issues on the agenda.

Originally scheduled for December 1, the talks, which were to be attended by the Belarusian and Russian heads of state, were put off indefinitely.

“The Supreme State Council’s meeting was indeed set for this date,” Pavel Lyohki, head of the Belarusian leader’s press office, told BelaPAN.

“The stance of the Belarusian side was repeatedly aired by the Belarusian president. The position is that sessions of the Union State’s Supreme State Council must be a weighty event and, hence, there must be a weighty agenda, the issues that can accelerate the Union State’s integration processes seriously must be brought up for discussion.”

Minsk believes that “understanding” should be reached on the issues before they can be added to the agenda of Union State talks, according to Mr. Lyohki.

The Belarusian and Russian leaders should discuss “issues that will not be of little importance for the fate of Belarus and Russia, or else Supreme State Council sessions are pointless,” Mr. Lyohki explained.

The official said that he did not know whether the postponement had been proposed by Belarus or Russia. “If everything had been prepared properly, I guess the session would have probably taken place,” he noted.
Belarus is not to blame for the postponement of the talks, he added.