MINSK, June 25. /TASS/. The conflict in Ukraine has almost disappeared from the world agenda amid the escalation between Israel and Iran, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov has said.

"Look, [in] the last weeks of the active phase of the confrontation between Israel, Iran and the United States, practically nothing was heard about Ukraine. In particular, the NATO summit is no longer discussed as much. Europe is more concerned with other things," he told a Belarusian news channel. According to Ryzhenkov, the Middle East conflict has a completely different character and can hit the interests of Europe much more seriously. "This is already a conflict that is quite difficult to stop," he believes.

In this situation, Belarus needs to continue pursuing a peaceful policy, he added.

The escalation began in the early hours of June 13, when Israel launched a military operation targeting Iran. Less than 24 hours later, Iran responded with its own retaliatory actions. Nine days afterward, on the morning of June 22, US jets attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities, effectively escalating the conflict. The following evening, Tehran launched a missile strike against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military installation in the region. According to US authorities, there were no casualties or significant damage resulting from the strike.

Subsequently, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Iran had reached an agreement to a complete ceasefire. On June 24, the ceasefire officially took effect.