The U.S. Special Envoy confirmed the suspension of weather balloon flights from Belarus to Lithuania
U.S. Special Envoy John Cole stated that, following numerous discussions with Belarus’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko, the issue of weather balloons carrying contraband into Lithuania has effectively ceased.
Cole made this statement in an interview with LRT.
Cole noted that weather balloon flights no longer occur on the scale they did previously. “This is no longer happening. And the Lithuanians acknowledge that it hasn’t happened anymore. Sometimes one or two balloons still fly, but not like before. So now it’s a controlled situation,” he said.
According to Cole, Lukashenko promised to stop the weather balloon flights, and his promise was kept. The special envoy also emphasized that there is a criminal element—cigarette smuggling—and some violators were arrested, making it impossible to continue launching the balloons.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys stated that Lithuania could send a special envoy to Belarus to negotiate the issue of weather balloons.
