If you type "Belarus' peace initiatives" in the Internet, search engines will give you hundreds, if not thousands, of variations: publications, statements, speeches of politicians and diplomats, interviews and addresses from high tribunes. Belarusian diplomacy is more than 100 years old, and for all this time peace has been its absolute value. As an example, the negotiations of the Normandy Quartet on Ukraine in Minsk.
Negotiations were held in the Palace of Independence. The presidents of Russia, Ukraine, France and the Chancellor of Germany tried for 16 hours to come to an agreement. As a result, the parties agreed to a cease-fire in Donbass starting February 15, 2015. Then Alexander Lukashenko said: "We will do anything to stop the bloodshed."
Normandy Four.
The Minsk agreements were derailed. With a new round of conflict, Minsk again invited to negotiate. But no Poroshenko, Hollande, and Merkel, while adjusting to the situation, began to repeat in unison the absurd "we were buying time for Ukraine," saying that no one really wanted peace. Except Belarus...
Mateusz Piskorski, political scientist (Poland):
“With all due respect to Angela Merkel, and in general for German chancellors, it is not them who decide the issues and prospects of the Ukrainian conflict. The Ukrainian conflict, as well as the so-called current Ukrainian President, as well as the previous one (Petro Poroshenko) are governed by completely different forces. These forces are not the forces associated with the European Union, Germany, France, and the other "guarantors" of the Minsk agreements.”
For more than two years, Minsk provided a platform for the contact group on Ukraine. What did we get in return? Criticism that Minsk ignored human rights. But Minsk did not snap back and was always open. That same year we hosted a large-scale OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
The Assembly then brought together 700 representatives from 57 countries. Over four days of work, the Minsk Declaration was drawn up and adopted. It included the resolution of political issues and economic co-operation. During the panel discussion, the President of Belarus stated that Belarus is no less democratic than Europe; one simply needs to talk. Once again, they did not listen.













