"I was joking." Cole commented on the words that he didn't know where Belarus was
The US President's Special Envoy for Belarus stated that he was joking when he said he didn't know where our country was located when the Donald Trump administration first sent him to Minsk on an official visit. This is how Cole commented on his words, previously said in several interviews with American media, noted "Zerkalo" (Mirror).
"So, John Cole was Deputy Special Representative for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and didn't know where Belarus was? Are you kidding? I hope he can at least find Moscow on a map," wrote social media user X Nšo-či.
In response, John Cole wrote that it was a joke.
"It was a joke. Of course, I knew where Belarus was," Trump's special envoy wrote.
John Cole publicly recounted at least twice how he allegedly didn't know where Belarus was on the map before his visit to Minsk. The first time was to The Wall Street Journal in December 2025.
In his account of meetings with Alexander Lukashenka in Minsk, the special envoy noted that he was not the most obvious candidate for a diplomatic mission in Belarus.
"The first thing I thought was: where the hell is that?" he recalled.
Cole repeated this phrase a second time a week before his last visit to Minsk in March 2026, speaking at the McCain Institute in Washington. He told the audience how he got the position of special envoy and how his first trip to Minsk went.
"It all started with a phone call... At the time, I was Deputy Envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict to General [Keith] Kellogg. They call me: 'Will you go to Belarus?' I ask: 'And where is this Belarus?'" Cole recounted.
It is worth noting that during the four trips of the 78-year-old American lawyer to Belarus, 438 people were released.
Now reading
"Months in the cabin, neglected myself. And started asking: maybe my wife will work too?". Why emigration breaks up families and what to do to fix everything 3333
"Months in the cabin, neglected myself. And started asking: maybe my wife will work too?". Why emigration breaks up families and what to do to fix everything 33
Well-known Russian singer and her Belarusian husband, Kadyrov's advisor, transferred over 100 thousand euros for the treatment of three-year-old Ksyusha with SMA 44
Comments