MINSK, December 13. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Aleinik to the post of foreign minister.

"Sergey Aleinik, who most recently worked as a first deputy foreign minister, has been appointed foreign minister," the BelTA news service said on Tuesday.

Also, Andrey Lukyanovich has been appointed commander of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces. He most recently was a deputy commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, BelTA said.

The president said that the day before he had discussed with them all the details of their future activities in new posts.

The previous Belarusian foreign minister, Vladimir Makei, died suddenly on November 26. He was 64. The previous commander of the Air Force and Air Defenses, Igor Golub, retired into the reserve in November due to age.

Sergey Aleinik was born in 1965. He graduated from the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages with a degree in German and English, as well as the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna with a degree in international relations. The diplomat represented Belarus at the UN, served as the Belarussian ambassador to the Holy See, the Sovereign Order of Malta, the UK and Ireland. He was promoted to deputy foreign minister in 2020, and rose to first deputy foreign minister in February 2022.