Varankov stated to RIA Novosti, “So far, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not responded to our proposal.” He noted that the Lithuanian side suggested a meeting at the beginning of next week between the deputy heads of the border agencies of the two countries to combat cross-border crime.
Varankov considered that this cooperation does not solve the issue of reopening the border crossings that Lithuania unilaterally closed, and resuming the movement of citizens, vehicles, and goods through them. He added, “We reiterate that due to the complexity of this issue, its resolution can only be achieved on a political and diplomatic level, which the citizens of Belarus, Lithuania, and other countries, including the European Union, are eagerly awaiting. The Belarusian side is ready for this.”
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesperson concluded by saying, “There is another option without negotiations, which is for Lithuania to reverse its unilateral decision to close the border with Belarus.”
Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhinkov announced on November 12th that Minsk had submitted proposals to Lithuania regarding the reopening of border crossings on the shared border and is awaiting a response, committed to normalizing the situation quickly. He also explained that since the agreement exceeds the authority of the licensed border agencies in the two countries, it has been decided that the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will conduct further negotiations with the Lithuanian side.
Lithuania had previously closed its borders with Belarus to vehicles for a month, until November 30th (1:00 AM Moscow time on December 1st), with the possibility of extending this period. Nevertheless, Lithuania later allowed certain categories of people to pass through one of the two crossings.
Belarus allowed only Lithuanian trucks to exit through the Lithuanian part of the border to avoid queues in other directions. In response to Lithuania’s request to ensure the return of Lithuanian trucks across the border, Belarus stated that they would be able to leave once normal traffic movement is resumed across the crossings.
