Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir died.

Minsk: Foreign Minister of Belarus Vladimir died suddenly.

According to foreign media, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Maki, died suddenly at the age of 64.

The news of the death of Vladimir Maki has been confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, but the cause of death has not been disclosed.

According to foreign media, Vladimir was handling the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2012.

Belarus’ state news agency Belta reported on Saturday that longtime Foreign Minister Vladimir Maki was due to meet his Russian counterpart two days later, but died suddenly, Reuters reported. .

Maki attended a conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance of several post-Soviet states, in Yerevan earlier this week.

Ahead of the 2020 presidential election and mass anti-government protests in Belarus, Vladimir Maki was one of the pioneers of efforts to improve Belarus’ relations with the West, and he has also been critical of Russia. However, Maki suddenly changed his stance after the protests began, saying he had been influenced by Western agents.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February, Maki, an advocate of closer ties between Moscow and Minsk, said the West had fueled the war and Ukrainian officials should agree to Russia’s peace terms.

“We are shocked by the news of the death of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Maki,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, posted on her Telegram channel.

On the other hand, exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, commenting on the minister’s death, called Maki a traitor to the Belarusian people. “In 2020, Maki betrayed the people of Belarus and supported cruelty,” he said.