Ukrainian MFA: Level of our presence at inauguration speaks for itself

Ukraine was represented by the Charge d'Affaires a.i. in Belarus at the inauguration of Lukashenka.

As the Ukrainian MFA said, Kyiv took into account boycotting of the inauguration by the EU, but economic ties with Minsk overweighed.

Ukraine won’t resort to strong steps in relations with Belarus, because unlike the EU, Kyiv has far closer economic ties with Minsk, Oleg Voloshyn, director of the information policy department at the Ukrainian MFA, told in an interview to Deutsche Welle. According to him, Ukraine doesn’t plan to impose sanctions on Belarus as the EU calls to do. At the same time, Ukraine doesn’t support the approach of the Belarusian authorities to the opposition. It would be more reasonable for Alyaksandr Lukashenka to make a step forward to the opposition to defuse concerns of the EU, Voloshyn noted.

Absence of high-ranking guests from Kyiv “speaks for itself”

The MFA officer noted Ukraine had been represented by the Charge d'Affaires a.i. in Belarus at the inauguration of the Belarusian head of state. “We won’t take any strong steps in policy. There are no anti-Belarusian sentiments among the Ukrainian elite or among people. But at the same time we cannot ignore the fact that the Belarusian elections were called by international organizations as failed to comply with democratic standards. In this sense, the level of our presence at the inauguration speaks for itself,” Oleg Voloshyn said. Asked by Deutsche Welle if the Ukrainian president or prime minister or leaders of the Ukrainian Parliament had received invitations to the inauguration of Lukashenka, Voloshyn told he couldn’t provide such information.