BRUSSELS, August 10. /TASS/. The European Union considers only the actions of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and not his words regarding any proposed dialogue with the West, and thinks that this dialogue should be conducted with the Belarusian people, Spokesperson of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, Peter Stano, told TASS on Tuesday, commenting on the Belarusian leader’s proposal to Western countries to sit down at the negotiating table.

"By fraudulent elections last August and ongoing repression since then against his own people, A. Lukashenko lost any democratic legitimacy," the spokesman stated. "What counts now is not what he says but what he does and his most urgent immediate task and obligation is to stop the brutal repression, start talking to his own people and launching a nationwide inclusive dialogue to find a way out of the current political crisis, and organise free and fair elections in line with Belarus’ international obligations so that people of Belarus can really decide who becomes the leader of their country," he noted.

On Monday at a meeting with journalists and community leaders, the Belarusian president, among other things, proposed to the West to sit down at the negotiating table, also claiming that he may soon step down.