French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday proposed, alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel, European mediation between the various actors of the crisis in Belarus, in conjunction with Russia with which Europeans are in intensive dialogue.
“A dialogue between the authorities, the opposition and civil society is (…) essential. We hope that this dialogue can be put in place by the Belarusians themselves. But the European Union nevertheless stands ready to accompany this, if our mediation role can be useful and is desired by the Belarusians, with other institutions, in particular the OSCE, and including Russia in a demanding dialogue ” , said the French President at a joint press conference with the German Chancellor.
"The possibility of a relationship between the EU and Russia is also being played out on this issue"
"We had, Madam Chancellor, myself, President (of the European Council) Charles Michel, several exchanges with President (Vladimir) Putin on Belarus, we are first waiting for a frank dialogue because we are convinced that stability and the possibility of a relationship between the EU and Russia are also at stake on this issue ”, declared the French president.
“We do not want to see it as a replica of what we have known in previous years, in particular in Ukraine (where a political crisis in 2014 ultimately led to an invasion of Ukrainian territory by Russia). We have been very clear with Mr Putin on this point, ”he said.
The two European leaders also stressed that, if they had a rich dialogue with the Russian president, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was absent subscribers for dialogue. Mr. Lukashenko did not try to speak to any of us, denounced Angela Merkel.
Emmanuel Macron recalled that there was also on the table the mediation proposal of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “I can say that President Putin's response was favorable to this proposal. It is, according to him, President Lukashenko who is reluctant today ”.
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