Belarus

MINSK, October 29. /TASS/: Belarus is looking for ways to replace the Russian oil, considering the options of crude supplies from various regions of the world through the ports of Ukraine and the Baltic states, Belneftekhim Deputy Chairwoman Svetlana Gurina said in an interview with the SB. Belarus Today newspaper published on Tuesday.

MINSK, October 8. /TASS/: NATO and US growing presence in the Black and Baltic Sea is dangerous and it is necessary to work out rules of behavior in these regions, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's temporary Commission on Information Policy and Communications Alexei Pushkov said on Tuesday.

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday the conflict in eastern Ukraine could not be resolved without U.S. involvement in peace talks.

A diplomatic breakthrough last week potentially opened the way for an international summit between France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine aimed at finding a way to end the fighting.

“It won’t be possible to resolve the conflict without the participation of the United States,” Lukashenko said.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia.

MINSK, October 4. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is confident that his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky will facilitate successful resolution of the conflict in Donbass, he said on Friday during the expanded talks with the Ukrainian leader.

"Everything will be fine with the east [of Ukraine]. The perseverance of the current president to put an end to the war will bring success, I am sure of it," the Belarusian president claimed.

MINSK, September 26. /TASS/: Belarus is forced to search for alternatives to Russia’s oil supplies amid the tax maneuver in the Russian oil sector, President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with Ukrainian media outlets on Thursday.

"Those are not levers of pressure, that is a search for alternatives," he was quoted as saying by the BelTA news agency.

Minsk, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has registered a sharp increase of ceasefire violations in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, OSCE special envoy Martin Sajdik said Wednesday.

Sajdik made the remarks during a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the peaceful settlement of the Donbas situation.

The current ceasefire agreed by the TCG on July 21 is the most sustainable one since the conflict began, he said.

MINSK, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that relations between Minsk and Brussels have become much warmer in recent years.

"The EU is one of the most significant trading partners and an important source of innovation needed to modernize and increase the competitiveness of the Belarusian economy," Lukashenko said Thursday at a ceremony to receive credentials from ambassadors of foreign countries in Minsk.

MINSK, September 6. /TASS/: Belarus will never turn its back on Russia, but expects Moscow to support Minsk in difficult times, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters in the Belarusian city of Brest on Friday.

"As for Russia, we are one nation, I have said this a thousand times. These are our people, our brothers. We have always been together, they have always lent us a helping hand. And even though we sometimes have issues with Russia, they are not with the Russian people," the BelTA News Agency quotes him as saying.

MINSK, August 23. /TASS/: Belarus’ government plans to submit its draft program of integration with Russia to President Alexander Lukashenko on August 27, Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said on Friday.

"On Tuesday (August 27), we will refer this draft program to the head of state for approval so that the prime ministers [of Belarus and Russia] could initial this program of actions," he said in an interview with the Belarus-1 television program.

MINSK, August 8. /TASS/: The Belarusian part of the Druzhba oil pipeline has been fully cleared of contaminated oil, Chief Executive of Polotsktransneft Druzhba, Vasiliy Drobotov told reporters on Thursday.

"The system of Polotsktransneft Druzhba has been fully cleared of oil containing organic chlorides," he said. "In fact, the roadmap has been fulfilled regarding the clearing of the Belarusian part of the main oil pipelines from Russia’s oil contaminated with chlorides throughout its [Belarusian] territory," Drobotov added.