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POZIRK+Lithuania arrests six over cigarette smuggling from Belarus
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Lithuanian FM rejects Minsk’s call for talks on reopening border
November 12, Pozirk. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys will refuse to negotiate with Belarus the reopening of checkpoints at the shared border, although Alaksandar Łukašenka instructed his foreign minister to start such talks. Lithuania’s top diplomat, who is visiting Washington, said so in an interview with 15min.lt .
“Łukašenka does not set the rules… My insistent recommendation to my government will be to not follow the route which they are trying to force on us,” Budrys said, according to Reuters.
“We are not left alone, we have full involvement of the USA,” Budrys added, pointing to his meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Belarus, John Coale.
The minister signaled that Lithuania would reopen the border if the smugglers’ balloons stopped entering its airspace, and if about 1,000 Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus after the border closure were allowed to return.
Earlier today, the Lithuanian foreign ministry summoned a staffer of the Belarusian embassy in Vilnius to protest in strong terms “Belarus’ ongoing violations of Lithuanian airspace, which should be regarded as hybrid attacks.”
According to the Lithuanian ministry, Minsk’s diplomat was called after airspace violations from Belarusian territory were documented on November 8 and 10.
Łukašenka orders FM Ryžankoŭ to address border tensions with Lithuania
November 11, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka has instructed Foreign Minister Maksim Ryžankoŭ to negotiate “normalizing the situation and resuming full-fledged operation of checkpoints” on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, his press office reports. The Belarusian ruler’s move followed today’s meeting with Ryžankoŭ, State …
