Minsk - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that after signing an association agreement with the European Union, Ukraine initiated talks with the Customs Union troika.
“After signing the association agreement with the European Union, you proposed that we meet, discuss things without any fuss, make a carefully-weighed decision and assess the situation in Ukraine,” Lukashenko said in Minsk on Aug. 26 during talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Lukashenko denied claims that Belarus was using the Ukrainian issue for publicity purposes.
“Publicity boils down to this: the Ukrainian president proposed [holding talks with the Customs Union leaders] and I implemented this idea. I’ve done my best to bring your point of view to my colleagues in the Customs Union,” he said.
“Were it not your wish – we have held quite a few discussions by telephone recently – the meeting would not have been held. And this suggests that Ukraine is strongly interested in bringing the situation back to normal in this land in the center of Europe, Lukashenko said.
