Belarusian foreign minister dies suddenly — RT Russia and the former Soviet Union

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey died suddenly on Saturday, Belta news agency reported, citing ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz. He had held his position for a decade.

The outlet did not provide any details on the circumstances or cause of the 64-year-old’s death. He was due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in the coming days.

A career diplomat, Makey has worked with the Belarusian foreign ministry since 1993 after graduating from the Austrian Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. He represented Belarus in the Council of Europe and was an adviser to the Belarusian ambassador in Paris in the 1990s.

In the 2000s, he worked as an assistant to President Alexander Lukashenko and headed the presidential administration between 2008 and 2012 before taking up the post of foreign minister.

Just a day before his death, Makey met with the Vatican’s ambassador to Minsk, Ante Jozic. The meeting marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Belarus. The minister and the ambassador discussed bilateral relations, as well as the position of the Catholic Church in Belarus, the ministry said at the time.

At the beginning of November, the Minister traveled to India, where he met diplomats and entrepreneurs. Makey also discussed bilateral trade and economic cooperation with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, according to the Belarusian foreign ministry. Regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two diplomats called for a “a speedy resolution by peaceful means”, added the ministry.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was shocked by the news of the senior diplomat’s death.

You can share this story on social media:

Follow RT on