The Belarusian authorities say they still hope that a Ukrainian delegation who planned to take part in a meeting of the Belarusian-Ukrainian advisory council on business cooperation will come to the trade forum in Grodno on October 8 despite ongoing protests in that country.
Belarus expects that the event will also be attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Ukraine Igor Sokol, chief of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Minsk Ihor Kyzym, as well as Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir Ulakhovich, and President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hennadiy Chyzhykov, the Belarusian BelTA agency reported.
Read alsoUkraine's MFA: Zelensky not to visit Belarus amid mass protests
The meeting will consider promising directions for the development of trade and economic interaction, as well as problematic issues of business.
Bilateral commercial contracts and agreements are to be signed.
Belarus protests: Developments
- On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus.
- The country's Central Election Commission announced the final election results. In particular, 80.1% of voters supported incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, 10.1% voted for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, 1.67% for Anna Kanopatskaya, 1.2% for Andrey Dmitriev, and 1.14% for Sergei Cherechnya. Some 4.59% voted against all candidates.
- On the evening of August 9, thousands of Belarusians took to the streets to take part in spontaneous rallies, which was followed by clashes with law enforcement. The police in Minsk used water cannons, tear gas, stun grenades, and fired rubber bullets in a crackdown on protests.
- Belarus' Ministry of Internal Affairs announced about 3,000 protesters were detained on the night of August 10, more than 2,000 people on the night of August 11, and more than 1,000 on the third night of the protests in different towns and cities across the country. The ministry confirmed one of the protesters had died.
- As of today, there were reports about two deaths among protesters.
- The UN has condemned the violence and violation of human rights in Belarus, a number of countries have called on Minsk to stop the atrocities.
- Belarus' largest March of Freedom is to take place on Sunday afternoon.
