Lukashenka not invited to summit in Yalta

The Belarusian dictator will not attend the 18th summit of the leaders of the Central European states in Yalta on May 11-12.

Radio Svaboda has been informed by the Ukraine Foreign Ministry's press secretary, Aleksandr Dikusarov.

“Lukashenka was not invited. And he had never taken part in such summits, among other things, when such meeting was held in Ukraine,” the press-secretary said.

As said by Dikusarov, there will be bilateral meetings of different heads of states of the region. Among the topics on the agenda are problems of Trans-Dniester reconciliation, air defense in Europe, relations of Russia and the EU, gas deliveries.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Albania, Bulgaria and Latvia have told they are not going to take part in the summit in Ukraine.

A representative of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Oleg Voloshin in an interview to BBC stated that the number of presidents who are to arrive to the summit is not critical, but it would be better for European leaders to communicate with the Ukrainian president and not to avoid the dialogue.

“It would be better for everyone to arrive. Is the meeting of Ukraine and Poland not important? A dialogue is needed. We would not recall our ambassadors in response to certain actions of the EU like some of our neighbours. We are not engaged in such nonsense,” Oleg Voloshin said.