Belarus bristles at Kazakhstan's offer to host Ukraine talks

19/1/2018 18:34

        Belarus on Friday mocked Kazakhstan's suggestion that it could serve as a new venue for Ukraine peace talks previously hosted by Minsk.
        
        Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said in a statement released to The Associated Press that the ex-Soviet nation "isn't seeking peacemaker's laurels unlike some others." He added that moving the talks elsewhere wouldn't change anything.
        
        "The negotiations' venue is hardly relevant," Makei said. "The negotiations on Ukraine could even be moved to Antarctica if there is a certainty about their success."
        
        He added that for the talks to succeed it's necessary that every party to the conflict sincerely aims to end the bloodshed.
        
        Belarus has hosted a series of negotiations to try to settle the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted weeks after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.