The Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland, Gitanas Nausėda, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and Andrzej Duda, have notably chosen not to participate in the traditional “family photo” at the COP28 conference alongside Alexander Lukashenko.
President Nausėda conveyed a firm stance, stating, “It would be hypocritical to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the head of state that has become a staging ground for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and to discuss the future of the world and climate change as if nothing happened, the Belarusian regime is contributing to the destruction of the future world and is responsible, along with Russia, for what is happening in Ukraine, from the loss of life to the catastrophic environmental impact.”.
“This is called a family photo. Lukashenko does not belong to the family which we want to be a part of,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said in a statement sent to AFP.
COP28 is the largest global forum on climate change, held annually to bring parties together and agree on further action to combat climate change, limit emissions and global warming. This year it is being held in Dubai.
