Minsk might become negotiating ground for Moscow, Ankara; so far no such desire - Russian ambassador to Belarus
MINSK. Feb 10 (Interfax) - Belarus may serve as a forum for negotiations on settling the conflict between Russia and Turkey, only on the condition that both parties desire this, and are interested in this, says Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov.
"First, to act as a mediator, there is a need for Russia and Turkey to start some negotiations. There is no such desire so far. Turkey has spoken, not very coherently, about its desire to meet, but the events are developing in such a way that it's difficult to have a discourse on the possibility of negotiations. Nothing can be ruled out though," Surikov said in an interview with Interfax.
"Second, for this to take place on the Belarusian forum, Russia and Turkey should have the desire to hold the negotiating process here exactly, after which it makes sense to come up with various proposals, including the one aired by [Belarusian Foreign Minister] Vladimir Makei," he said.
Considering this, the Russian leadership cannot view Belarus as a negotiating forum at the moment, Surikov said.
"We don't have any position on the matter," he said.
Makei had suggested in January 2015, that Minsk was ready to act as a mediator between Russia and Turkey, to help the two countries normalize their relations.