Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei participates in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (fourth day)

On September, 24 2022 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, spoke at the general political discussion of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. 

During his speech, V.Makei presented the position of the Republic of Belarus on the conflict in Ukraine, noting its root causes, and also pointed out the necessary measures to resolve it and prevent similar crises in the future. For Belarus, which itself went through the genocide of the Belarusian people during the Second World War, it is unbearably painful to see the chaos in the neighboring country and the suffering of ordinary Ukrainians. The Minister stressed that the responsibility for the ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine should be fully borne by the collective West. 

The Foreign Minsiter noted that the issues of a ceasefire and a comprehensive strategic peace settlement around Ukraine in the broad context of regional and global security can only be achieved at the negotiating table. At the same time, Belarus should become an integral part of both the negotiation process and the final security guarantees. Vladimir Makei also recalled the contribution of Belarus to the conflict settlement.

V.Makei reminded the delegates of successful examples of cooperation in world history, when at the turn of historical epochs and in certain periods, the world community and global players still managed to fix the balance of interests, which was subsequently necessary and sufficient to create a lasting peace. He drew attention to the initiative of the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to hold a global dialogue on security in the spirit of San Francisco. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs invited the countries of the developing world to collectively take the lead in matters of global security. 

The speech emphasized that the security of one side cannot be ensured at the expense of the security of the other side. By pursuing a policy of NATO expansion to the East, the West grossly violated the principle of the indivisibility of security. 

The Minister also noted that, given the huge number of diverse challenges, the task of the entire responsible part of humanity today is to ensure the transition to a new multipolar world order without destroying our civilization. 

V.Makei noted the failure of the West's plan to subjugate inconvenient states through sanctions pressure, with an emphasis on the negative consequences of such measures for the international system. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus called on the West to heed common sense and return to dialogue and cooperation.

On the same day, the Belarusian Foreign Minister met with the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

During the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs conveyed a response message from the President of the Republic of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, to the UN Secretary-General, confirming the readiness of Belarus to take part in providing humanitarian assistance to the least developed countries in a vulnerable situation in the context of food insecurity. 

V.Makei noted that the vision of Belarus and the UN leadership on global security issues, assessment of existing challenges and threats largely coincide. The Minister welcomed the efforts of António Guterres to create and promote the Black Sea Grain Initiative, aimed at supporting international efforts to combat hunger. He called on the UN Secretary General to actively use the potential of the Organization to counter the use of restrictive measures in bilateral relations.

During a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, V.Makei stressed that Belarus views India as a very important partner and aims to significantly increase cooperation.

The Ministers discussed the prospects for expanding mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and India in various areas, as well as the current situation in the potash market due to unilateral restrictions imposed on Belarus and its impact on global food security. 

The parties confirmed their readiness to further strengthen the political dialogue and expand contacts at various levels. 

A brief conversation was held with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abdullah Shahid, on his initiative, during which the parties discussed issues of interaction in international organizations.

The Maldivian diplomat expressed gratitude to the Belarusian side for the education of Maldivian students in Belarus and confirmed the interest in increasing the quota places for this country for education in the field of medicine.

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