MINSK, October 14. /TASS/. Minsk and Washington are holding substantive talks regarding Ukraine, Belarusian State Security Committee Chairman Ivan Tertel told the BelTA news agency.

"US partners acknowledge that our location in this region, as well as our leader [Alexander Lukashenko]’s understanding of the situation, make us seriously capable of contributing to the stabilization of the crisis. Therefore, a substantive conversation is being held on the Ukrainian topic. This is at the top of our agenda in talks with the US side," he said.

Tertel added that "a very serious discussion of issues is underway with the US side at the presidential level." The second track of negotiations concerns regional security. "This is also a topic of discussion with the US side. It includes relations between the countries conventionally representing the core interests of the West and the Republic of Belarus. The discussions touch on various spheres, including politics, economy and other aspects," the state security committee chairman explained. According to him, "this dialogue has already yielded substantial benefits for stabilizing the situation in the region."