Minsk formally asks for border talks - Lithuanian PM

VILNIUS - As Minsk says it has sent Lithuania proposals on normalizing the border situation, Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said on Wednesday she has received an official letter from Belarus asking to start talks.

Ruginiene said there are "positive signs" from Belarus, which has been blocking around one thousand Lithuanian trucks from leaving until Vilnius reopens the temporarily closed border.

"We have received a letter proposing to start talks. We will assess it and make the appropriate decisions," the prime minister told reporters.

"We see positive signs, but we have to make sure that is really the case. Once we are certain, we will immediately, right here and now, reopen the borders and allow movement. But the border closure is there to contain the hybrid attack using balloons," she added.

Minsk said on Wednesday it has sent Lithuania proposals on reopening the border, although it is still refusing to open an evacuation corridor through the temporarily closed border for Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus.

"I could tell you everything, but certain things really cannot be discussed publicly," Ruginiene said when asked by reporters to specify Belarus' proposals.

BNS earlier reported that Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov, after accusing Lithuania of breaching a number of bilateral agreements over the border closure, stressed Minsk's readiness for dialogue with Vilnius.

However, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said on Wednesday that talks are not possible as long as Belarus continues escalating the situation "to the point of hot phases."