Vladimir Makei, Belarus’s long-standing foreign minister, died unexpectedly on Saturday at the age of 64, according to the state news agency Belta (November 26).
Makei, who has been in his position since 2012, was scheduled to meet with Sergei Lavrov on Monday in Minsk.
Anatoly Glaz, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, was quoted by the state news agency Belta as saying: ‘The Belarusian foreign minister Vladimir Makei has died suddenly.’
Makei was in Yerevan earlier this week for a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The CSTO is an alliance of post-Soviet countries.
Before Russia’s ‘special military’ operation in Ukraine, experts had raised worry that Moscow would send troops to the neighbouring country via Belarus. But Makei has rejected allegations.
The Belarusian government, a strong friend of the Kremlin, apparently permitted Moscow’s forces to use Belarusian territory in February, but the Russians allegedly did it nonetheless.
‘We are shocked by the reports of the death of the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei,’ wrote Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, on her Telegram channel.
Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, also sent his condolences.
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