Tsikhanouskaya met in New York with Mike Pompeo, who visited Lukashenka in 2020
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya held a meeting with former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who held this position during Donald Trump's first administration.
The main topic of discussion, as reported by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's press service, was the events of 2019-2020 and US policy towards Belarus during that period. The parties touched upon Washington's attempts to expand opportunities for Belarus to preserve independence and reduce its energy dependence on Russia.
In February 2020, Pompeo became the first US Secretary of State in 26 years to visit Belarus. His visit took place against the backdrop of an oil conflict between Minsk and Moscow. Pompeo then declared the United States' support for Belarus's sovereignty and independence and announced that American energy companies were ready to supply the country with the necessary volumes of oil at competitive prices.
Later, Pompeo described this period in his memoirs "Ніколі не саступай ні цалі" (Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love). In the book, he critically characterizes Alexander Lukashenka as a politician of the old Soviet school, whose main goal was to preserve his own power.
According to Pompeo, Lukashenka understood the danger of complete dependence on Moscow, as the possibility of Russia absorbing Belarus could also threaten his own position. Therefore, for many years he tried to balance between Russia and the West.
Pompeo also explains Washington's policy in early 2020 by the desire to give Belarus a real alternative to Russian dependence, including through the possibility of American oil supplies. However, after the elections, Lukashenka, according to this assessment, chose violence and repression against Belarusians, which significantly narrowed the possibilities for further maneuvering between the West and Russia.
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