BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/08/2009

Belarus agrees to regular contacts with US

MINSK (AFP) - Belarus said Friday it agreed to maintain regular contacts with the United States, following rare talks with a top US official as Minsk seeks a rapprochement with the West after years in the cold.

Vladimir Makei, head of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko's staff, hosted Philip Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, in the Belarussian capital as the ex-Soviet nation seeks a rapprochement with the West after years of frozen diplomatic ties.

"There was a detailed exchange of opinions concerning multilateral cooperation and joint action in the sphere of the international security and disarmament," Lukashenko's office said in a statement.

"Both sides have agreed to hold regular contacts."

Gordon was also to meet with Belarussian opposition leaders and members of civil society, the US state department said ahead of the trip.

His visit comes amid signs of a warming in ties between the West and Lukashenko's Belarus, which was dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship" by the previous US administration of president George W. Bush.

Lukashenko, after meeting a US Congressional delegation in June, ordered the release of a US citizen, Emanuel Zeltser, whose imprisonment last year strained ties with Washington.

The Belarussian president also voiced hope full diplomatic ties be renewed, provided the United States lifted sanctions on state oil and chemicals firm Belneftekhim that Washington imposed after accusing Minsk of rights abuses.

Relations between Belarus and the United States hit a low last year when the US ambassador left the country and several other US diplomats were forced out amid a row over the US economic sanctions.

Lukashenko's move for closer ties with the West has irked neighbour and traditional ally Russia, prompting a succession of noisy bilateral squabbles.

Source:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090814/usa/belarus_us_diplomacy_5

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