24 September 2020, Thursday, 17:00 190

Ukraine Asks Belarus To Postpone Forum Of Regions With Participation Of Zelenskyy And Lukashenko From October 2020 To 2021 – Ambassador Sokol

Даша Зубкова

Belarussian Ambassador to Ukraine Ihor Sokol has said that Ukraine has asked Belarus to postpone the Ukrainian-Belarussian Forum of Regions, which is scheduled for October 2020, to 2021.

The Belarusian embassy in Ukraine announced this in a statement, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Just the other day, the Ukrainian side approached us with an initiative to postpone the forum to 2021," he said in an interview with the Ukraine Business Review newspaper.

According to him, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Belarus to participate in the forum was being prepared.

"Since the Ukrainian leadership has paused relations, we will continue to communicate with regions, cities, village councils, and business. We are ready for this," the ambassador said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Belarus held a presidential election on August 9. According to the Central Election Commission, the turnout in the election was 84% and incumbent President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has headed the country since 1994, won more than 80% of the votes.

Hundreds of thousands of people continue to protest in Belarus. Tens of thousands of people have been detained during clashes with law enforcement officers, resulting in injuries and deaths.

The Belarusian Presidential Administration announced on September 23 that Lukashenko's inauguration ceremony had taken place, although the event was not announced or broadcast live.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on September 23 that Ukraine would hold an urgent meeting to determine its position on the legitimacy Lukashenko following his secret inauguration as the president of Belarus. He later said that Lukashenko's inauguration did not mean his recognition as the legitimate president of Belarus.

Zelenskyy said on September 24 that Ukraine shared its international partners’ non-recognition of Lukashenko's legitimacy.

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