Lukashenko confirms readiness to open Belarus’ border for Ukrainian foragers

MINSK, 25 June (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko confirmed Minsk’s readiness to grant Ukrainians access to the country’s border area for wild foraging, as was customary in previous years, during a meeting with Governor of Russia’s Moscow Oblast Andrei Vorobyov in Minsk on 25 June, BelTA has learned.

The head of state revealed that he had recently instructed border guards and local authorities in Gomel Oblast and Brest Oblast to work out options for Ukrainians to visit familiar spots in Belarus. “Before the war, residents of the Ukrainian border areas would always come over to pick mushrooms and berries. They made $5,000 to $6,000 to get by. Was life easy in Ukraine before the war? It was very tough. And we opened the way for them,” the president said.
The head of state emphasized that even under current conditions, Belarus is ready to reopen these checkpoints: “So that Ukrainians can come over, just like they used to, and do their wild foraging in the wetlands – they know these spots better than we do – and then what they find. We understand that things are complicated and difficult for them over there.”

“If the Ukrainian authorities, who currently forbid them from doing so, abandon this policy and allow people to cross over into Belarus to harvest mushrooms and berries, let them do it and sell their goods. We are not afraid of this. We will be able to monitor everyone who comes here with good intentions,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.