The United States did not issue visas to the Belarusian delegation led by Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov in a timely manner, which is why Belarus was unable to attend the first meeting of US President Donald Trump's “Peace Council.”
This was reported by the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on February 19.
In a comment to the BelTA news agency, the diplomatic service said that Minsk informed the organizers of the “Peace Council” that, by decision of Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus will be represented at the inaugural event by Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov.
It is noted that all necessary notifications and documents were sent to American services in advance.
“However, despite the completion of all necessary procedures on our part, visas were not issued to the Belarusian delegation. In this situation, a natural question arises: what kind of peace and what consistency can we talk about if even the basic formalities for our participation were not completed by the organizers?” – the Belarusian government's comment states.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko signed a letter on January 20 stating the country's readiness to join the “Peace Council” and implement its provisions. According to Belarusian opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the invitation from US President Donald Trump to join this association in no way “legitimizes” her opponent.