Belarus’s Foreign Minister Makei passes away suddenly
Belta reports that Belarus’s ling standing Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has passed away suddenly.
He died two days before he was supposed to meet his Russian counterpart.
“Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei died suddenly,” Belta reported without giving further details. Makei has held the position since 2012.
Makei, 64, attended a meeting of the Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – a military alliance of several post-Soviet states – in Yerevan earlier this week and was supposed to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
Ahead of the presidential election and major government protests in Belarus in 2020, Makei has been one of the leaders of efforts to improve Belarus’ relations with the West while criticizing Russia.
However, he suddenly changed his position when the protests started, saying that they were representatives of the West. When Russia began to attack Ukraine in February, Makei, a supporter of closer relations between Moscow and Minsk, said that the West had provoked the war and that the Ukrainian authorities were accepting Russia’s peace talks.
Just a few days before the war, Makei promised that Ukraine will not be attacked from the territory of Belarus. A few days later, the Russian army proved him wrong.
“We are shocked by the news of the sudden death of the head of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei,” the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel . “The official comfort will be released soon.”
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who has retained power despite the 2020 protests, also expressed his condolences.
