It is yet premature to speak about Belarusian ambassador’s return to Warsaw, foreign ministry spokesman says :: Charter'97 :: News

Andrei Popov, spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, said on Thursday that it was yet premature to speak about the return of Belarusian Ambassador Pavel Latushko to Warsaw.

The diplomat was recalled to Minsk last week amid signs that the bilateral relationship is going from bad to worse.

While talking to reporters in Minsk, Mr. Popov stressed that the ambassador’s recall from Poland was a temporary measure.

Speaking about the jailing of Mariusz Maszkiewicz, a former Polish ambassador to Belarus who was arrested by police in the opposition tent camp in Minsk on March 24 and sentenced to 15 days in jail, the official stressed that the ex-diplomat had committed an offense, a fact which he said is not contested by the Polish authorities.

The official said that the Belarusian foreign ministry had received a note from Warsaw calling for the early release of Mr. Maszkiewicz. “This note, not a demand, has been received by the Belarusian foreign ministry. It will be considered based on the principle of goodwill,” he said.