Belarusian Foreign Minister Makei has died

©Health & Fitness Journal. FILE PHOTO: Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei looks on during a joint news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (not pictured) in Tehran, Iran October 26, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

(Health & Fitness Journal) – Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has died at the age of 64, state-run Belta news agency reported on Saturday.

“Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei died suddenly,” reported Belta.

Makei has held office since 2012.

Earlier this week he attended a conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – a military alliance of several post-Soviet states – in Yerevan and was due to meet Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday.

Before the presidential elections and mass anti-government protests in Belarus in 2020, Makei had been one of the initiators of efforts to improve relations between Belarus and the West and had criticized Russia.

However, after the protests began, he abruptly changed his stance, claiming they were inspired by Western agents.

“We are shocked by the reports of the death of the head of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel. “Official condolences will be released soon.”