Ukraine’s MFA summons its ambassador to Belarus home for consultations

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has summoned Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Ihor Kyzym for consultations in Kyiv to assess the prospects for Ukrainian and Belarusian relations, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

“Taking this into account, I decided to summon Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Ihor Kyzym for consultations in Kyiv to assess the prospects of Ukrainian and Belarusian relations in the new reality that has developed, to make appropriate decisions, taking into account the entire range of factors. This is the first time in history that we have resorted to such a step in relations with Belarus, and we do it exclusively because of the unacceptable actions of Minsk,” Kuleba said in a statement released on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Aug. 17.

The minister said that last Friday, August 14, the officials of Minsk handed over the detained Wagner members to Russia, despite the presence of all legal and moral grounds to hand them over to Ukraine.

“This step undermined trust between our countries and dealt a heavy blow to our bilateral relations. After that, Alexander Lukashenko repeatedly and completely groundlessly accused Ukraine of unfriendly steps against Belarus. Qualitatively new threats to both the personal safety of citizens and regional security in general stem from official reports on the possible active involvement of Russia and the CSTO [the Collective Security Treaty Organization] in resolving the situation in Belarus. The combination of these facts and actions, as well as the development of events in Belarus, whose society has expressed a vote of no confidence in the official results of the presidential elections in Belarus, radically changes the situation in the Belarusian and Ukrainian relations,” Kuleba said.

He said that Ukraine will toughly defend its national interests. At the same time, the ambassador’s summons for consultations will in no way affect the ability to ensure the rights and legitimate interests of Ukrainian citizens in Belarus.

“Taking this opportunity, I would like to remind that due to the aggravation of the security situation in Belarus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already recommended refraining from traveling to this country. Those who are already in Belarus are advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to avoid mass events and places of gathering of citizens,” the head of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said.

The ministry said that calling the ambassador for consultations in Ukraine’s capital is one of the forms of diplomatic response, which is used to show dissatisfaction with the policies or unfriendly actions of the foreign state in which this ambassador is accredited.