MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th June, 2020) Belarus is grateful to Russia for its assistance in repatriating its nationals stranded abroad by the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said Friday.
"We thank the Russian Foreign Ministry and the minister personally ... for their assistance in the common effort to bring our citizens home," he told reporters in Minsk.
Makei, who spoke at a joint press conference alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Russia had reopened its border to some categories of Belarusian travelers.
"This is important not only for intensive human contacts but also for restoring business activity," Makei said, adding Belarus was looking forward to an end to all restrictions.
Russia grounded all international flights in late March in a bid to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. Since then, it has repatriated thousands of tourists stuck abroad after countries shut their borders.
