Lithuanian president warns US envoy against trusting dialogue with Minsk

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has confirmed receiving a question from US special envoy John Coale about the possibility of political dialogue with Belarus, LRT reports.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Nausėda said the US representative had asked during their meeting about potential avenues for engaging Minsk in talks.

The president warned that Belarusian authorities should be treated with caution, citing their alignment with Russia. “My message to Mr. Coale was that you should very carefully assess every step taken by the Belarusian government,” Nausėda stated. “The Belarusian government, by its nature and due to its identification with Russia, is difficult to separate from the Russian state.”

Nausėda cautioned that Minsk may attempt to divide NATO unity and push for differing US and EU policies toward Belarus. While he acknowledged efforts to free political prisoners in Belarusian jails as commendable, he described them as a tactical move by Minsk to achieve political goals.

The president also reiterated that EU sanctions against Belarus remain in force, extended for another 12 months, with no legal basis for lifting or easing them in the near future. He noted that neighboring countries serving as alternative logistical routes for Belarusian fertilizers share this stance.

On the issue of Taiwan’s representative office in Vilnius, Nausėda stated that renaming the office now could risk its complete closure. “The question of the Taiwanese representative office’s name was resolved years ago when it was established,” he said. “Reopening this issue could lead to a dilemma: either the name stays as it is, or we lose the office entirely.”

When asked about potential competition with Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė after she convened a National Security Commission meeting at the same time as his own foreign policy discussions, Nausėda dismissed the idea. “These were two meetings of a different nature—I see no direct competition here,” he said.