The official representative of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Anatoly Glaz, said that “the Belarusian ambassador to the UK has been summoned”, explaining that “in connection with a number of unfriendly steps taken by the UK, systematically aimed at causing maximum harm to citizens and legal entities of the Republic of Belarus.” A decision was made to downgrade the status of our country’s diplomatic mission in London to chargé d’affaires.

Eye said in a press statement: “The summoning of the ambassador does not mean the closure of channels of communication with London.”

It is noteworthy that diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on January 27, 1992 and further developed in various fields. Until the UK has become one of the main economic partners of Belarus and the third country after Russia and Ukraine in importing goods from Belarus; In 2017, the volume of trade between the two countries amounted to $2.656 billion.

The Russian military operation against Ukraine has affected Belarusian-Western relations; This is due to the fact that the West considers Minsk a partner in this process.