Lithuanian PM: No Negotiations With Minsk Will Take Place

• 23.10.2025, 16:47

Lukashenko's Belarus is not a country with which one can talk and negotiate.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginenė said on the Žinių radijas program that Vilnius will react harshly to repeated airspace violations by smuggled balloons from Belarus.

"There will be no negotiations with Belarus. This is not a country with which you can talk and negotiate. We all realize that most of the balloons can be detained on the territory of Belarus itself. If the neighboring country fails to do so, then our side should react accordingly," said the head of the Lithuanian government.

In case of repeated violation of the Lithuanian border by balloons, Inga Ruginenė promises to completely close the border with Belarus. Other measures are also planned: toughening of responsibility for smuggling, discussion with Lithuanian business of technical ways to prevent such balloons from entering Lithuania.

Commenting on the mass importation of balloons into Lithuania, the Prime Minister said she wanted "Belarus to also take a responsible attitude to these events, regardless of political relations."

"What I do - my decisions and actions - shows a clear position. There will be no negotiations with Belarus, and if we see any actions against us, if we see that contraband continues to move freely across the border, our services will react firmly here and now," explained the Prime Minister.

On the night of October 22, Vilnius International Airport was closed, while traffic through both operating checkpoints on the border with Belarus - Miadzinkai and Šalčininkai - was temporarily suspended due to the most massive violation of Lithuanian airspace by weather probes from Belarus this year.