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Belarus\u2019 long-standing foreign minister has died suddenly<\/a>, the country\u2019s foreign ministry said Saturday, two days before he was meant to meet his Russian counterpart.<\/p>\n “The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei has passed away,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus said in a tweet. Makei had held his post since 2012.<\/p>\n Makei, 64, attended a conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) \u2014 a military alliance of several post soviet states \u2014 in Yerevan earlier this week and was due to meet Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday.<\/p>\n\n Before the presidential elections and mass anti-government protests in Belarus in 2020, Makei had been one of the initiators of efforts to improve Belarus\u2019 relations with the West and had criticized Russia.<\/p>\n However, he abruptly changed his stance after the start of the protests, saying they were inspired by agents of the West.<\/p>\n After Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine began in February<\/a>, Makei, a supporter of close ties between Moscow and Minsk, said the West had provoked the war and that the Ukrainian authorities should agree to the Russian terms of peace.<\/p>\n A few days before the start of the war, Makei promised that there would be no attack on Ukraine from the territory of Belarus<\/a>. A few days later, Russian troops proved that he was wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are shocked by the reports of the death of the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei,\u201d Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted in her Telegram channel.<\/p>\n \u201cOfficial condolences will be published soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who retained power despite the protests of 2020, also expressed his condolences.<\/p>\n