President of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko stated that Donbas conflict could not be settled without the participation of the U.S. He made such a statement during the meeting with Deputy U.S. State Secretary David Hale, as Sputnik reported.
“I am sure that it is impossible to settle the conflict without the participation of the U.S. The U.S. would be able to promote the settlement of the conflict,” the Belarus leader said.
Lukashenko expressed the opinion that if the negotiators cannot reach a consensus then it is necessary to involve new forces, which may bring new ideas.
“New ideas should appear,” he is sure.
The visit of Hale to Belarus is the second visit of the top U.S. official to the country in a while. U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton visited Minsk at the end of the August.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky expressed the hope that the U.S. would be able to join the negotiations on Donbas during the meeting with Bolton. He noted that Ukraine would welcome the joining of the U.S. to the Normandy Format.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko stated that first, the Normandy format negotiations (Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany) should be held, and only after this US should join the Donbas conflict settlement process.
