Minsk, Washington discussing resumption of U.S. embassy's operations

MINSK. Oct 26 (Interfax) - Belarus and the United States are discussing the resumption of operations of the U.S. embassy in Minsk, Belarusian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Valentin Rybakov said.

"In fact, the U.S. embassy has never been formally closed. It left Belarus and moved to Lithuania because of security issues, as the U.S. side said back then. The hostilities started in neighboring Ukraine, and they moved to Lithuania under that pretext. U.S. diplomats have all the necessary documents, visas and all permits. As to the embassy's return, the Americans raised certain issues with the Belarusian side, which, from their perspective, would allow them to relocate completely to Minsk. These issues are being resolved," Rybakov said on the state-run First News Channel on Sunday.

Direct flights between the United States and Belarus are also being discussed, he said. "A great variety of issues need to be resolved in order to start direct flights. These include security, and certification of planes, as well as pilots, personnel, the airport and so on. That is why we keep working. This is one of the issues we are constantly discussing," Rybakov said.