Belarusian Ambassador Summoned by Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry: Known Reason

The Belarusian ambassador Pavel Utyupin has been summoned to Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry, as reported by Tengrinews.kz. During the meeting between Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu and Utyupin, urgent issues regarding Kazakh-Belarusian cooperation were discussed.

“The minister emphasized that Kazakhstan follows a balanced and peaceful foreign policy. Our country is convinced that all disputes between states should be resolved through political-diplomatic means,” the press release noted.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the current geopolitical conditions have proven the effectiveness of the political course pursued by the state's leadership. The minister called on the Belarusian side to “objectively evaluate Astana's position.”

Previously, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated in an interview with the “Russia” television channel that “some post-Soviet countries are seeking to gain benefits from Russia while giving nothing in return.” He also made unacceptable and rude remarks about Armenia.

“Who needs Armenians aside from us? No one. They should develop their economy and find their own resources. What France or Macron? Tomorrow he will be gone, and everyone will forget about Armenia,” Lukashenko said. According to him, they are actually “in the same boat” as Russia. “If it flips over, we will all drown. There is no need to hide our allied relations. We do not behave like some other countries that only want to take from Russia without giving anything in return,” he noted.

He expressed confidence that this situation cannot continue. “Let’s be together. The time is not far when you will have to turn to Russia for support. During a crisis, as it happened in Kazakhstan, everyone turns to Putin for help. And we (CSTO) quickly responded by sending forces there and suppressing the unrest,” he stated. He confirmed that in extreme cases, the CIS countries would again turn to Russia and Belarus for assistance.

Other countries in the post-Soviet area have also been affected. “Who is expecting goods from Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan in America or the EU? No, they are looking to sell in Russia. We have a common market, and losing it is not advisable,” Lukashenko added. These offensive remarks have provoked anger in Armenia. A group of members and supporters of the “For the Republic” party organized a protest in front of the Belarusian embassy in Armenia on August 21. They were outraged by the Belarusian president's latest insulting remarks about Armenia. The protesters threw eggs, potatoes, and tomatoes at the embassy building, chanting, “Get out of Armenia.”

Later, the temporary chargé d'affaires of Armenia, Narek Tiratuyryan, was summoned to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry “in connection with the vandalism committed against the building of the Belarusian diplomatic mission.”