During the exchange, the foreign ministers referred to the possibility of cooperating to counter information attacks and the deliberate dissemination of fake news about recent events.

Makey and Lavrov highlighted as a sign of progress in the conflict the opening of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and foreign citizens from the conflict zones and the possibility that they can move to Belarus through the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Border Committee and the Belarusian Red Cross Society signed a cooperation agreement with the aim of ensuring effective coordination of actions to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees.

“The agreement provides for the exchange of information, the planning of joint actions to provide emergency and long-term assistance to migrants, in the delivery and distribution of basic necessities, as well as the reestablishment of ties between family members affected by migration,” the Belarusian Foreign Ministry stated.

The president of Belarus, Alexandr Lukashenko, reiterated on Friday that his country’s armed services are not participating in Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and do not plan to be part of it, despite the fact that “some forces try to coax us into it”.

During the signing ceremony of the referendum on the reforms to the Belarusian Constitution, the president stressed that the country’s priority is “to defend our land, our State, and that will be our contribution to the security of our continent, and perhaps of the planet on the whole”.

pgh/llp/rgh/mml