Lukashenko asks EU to help stabilize situation in Ukraine
MINSK. July 22 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he expected the European Union to contribute to the stabilization of the situation in Ukraine.
"You and we have a common problem, a common misfortune, so to speak - namely, Ukraine. I know the Ukrainian people and everything that is now happening in Ukraine very well. These people don't deserve this. They've had presidential and parliamentary elections. Anyway, the important issue, the issue of power, has been resolved there," the presidential press service quoted Lukashenko as saying at a meeting with Head of the European Union Delegation to Belarus Andrea Wiktorin.
"The European Union once sent a lot of encouraging signals to this country and to those people, who are our brothers. I would urge you to provide any possible assistance to the stabilization of the situation in Ukraine," he told Wiktorin.
Lukashenko said he hoped for this not only because he personally sympathized with the Ukrainian people. "In fact, this problem is common for us: we, the Ukrainians and you live in the same region. This abscess, this headache for the European Union needs to be eliminated as soon as possible. Therefore, I appeal to you, however difficult it might be for you, leaving for another country, to send this message to the European Union: Ukraine needs support," he said.
The EU bears major responsibility for the events taking place in Ukraine, as Brussels earlier encouraged Kyiv to have closer relations, Lukashenko said. "Perhaps Ukraine is now oriented toward Europe more than toward Russia, Belarus, or the EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union]. Having said A, the European Union must also say B, frankly speaking. It's necessary to help the Ukrainian people," he said.
As reported before, Wiktorin, who has served as head of the EU Delegation to Belarus since 2015, is completing her diplomatic mission there and is to be transferred to an identical position in Armenia. Dirk Schuebel, who currently heads a division at the European External Action Service (EEAS), has been nominated to replace Wiktorin in Belarus.