MINSK, January 6. /TASS/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko called upon the rioters in Kazakhstan to start negotiations with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noting that it is possible to find common ground with him, the BelTA news agency reported.

"I just want to address the protesters on behalf of Belarusians. I would just tell them: "It’s time to wrap things up," Lukashenko said at the government meeting on the country’s historical policy on Thursday. "It is necessary to negotiate before everything has gone too far", he added. Lukashenko also stressed that "it is possible to negotiate with [Kazakhstan’s] President Tokayev. He is a decent person, a diplomat. He is a very intelligent and educated man."

Lukashenko is convinced that people in Kazakhstan should understand that this is their country and they will not have another one. "Turning the country upside down is easy, but it will be expensive to restore it afterwards. The contradictions between the clans, groups are huge there. They need to find an agreement," he stressed.

 

According to the Belarusian president, the events in Kazakhstan should serve as a lesson for Minsk. "It’s a lesson for us. One more lesson. In the sense that we now understand what could have happened to us (the 2020 Belarusian presidential election - TASS). Belarusians are peaceful people, but that’s not the point. Because other people, not Belarusians, would have held the reigns in Belarus," Lukashenko said.