Kellogg and Lukashenko spend more than six hours in talks, NYT uncovers

According to The New York Times, during his 6.5-hour meeting with Lukashenko, Kellogg attempted to secure his support for a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

The two sides discussed US and European sanctions against Belarus, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as Belarus’s relations with Russia and China.

Kellogg was accompanied in Minsk by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Smith, who had visited Belarus in February in an effort to negotiate the release of political prisoners in exchange for sanctions relief.

According to the report, an agreement reached on June 21 regarding 14 detainees accelerated a process in which prisoners, including three Americans, have been released in small groups over the past few months.

“Mr. Kellogg’s goals appear less ambitious, focused less on pulling Belarus away from Moscow than on securing Mr. Lukashenko’s help in a possible peace deal between Russia and Ukraine,” The New York Times states.

At a joint press conference, both sides concluded that the world is living in a very dangerous time, where crises could quickly escalate and intensify unless approached with wisdom and fairness.

Kellogg’s trip to Belarus

Reuters announced that US Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg might visit Belarus in the coming days. It was expected that he would meet with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko to give a boost to the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Kellogg became the highest-ranking US official to visit Belarus in recent years.

Advisor to Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, noted that this move reflects the US effort to establish another communication channel.