The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that it was “deeply shocked” by the news of the death of Belarusian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Makei, CNN reported, according to News.ro.

“As the head of the Foreign Ministry, he made a great contribution to the further strengthening of Russian-Belarusian relations,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

“He firmly and effectively defended the interests of the Republic of Belarus on international platforms,” ​​the statement also says, and Russian officials add that “this is a heavy, irreparable loss.”

According to the Russian mass media, on Monday, Makei was supposed to meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov.

In October, Belarus announced that it would form a joint regional force with Russia and conduct exercises, setting off the alarm in Kyiv. Then Makei accused Ukraine of “inevitable provocations” against Belarus, which Ukrainian officials categorically denied.

At the beginning of the war, in late February, Belarusian and Russian forces conducted joint exercises, and many of these Russian forces then crossed the Ukrainian border during their ill-fated drive toward the capital.

Before the presidential elections and mass anti-government protests in Belarus in 2020, Makey was one of the initiators of efforts to improve Belarus’ relations with the West and criticized Russia.

However, after the protests began, he sharply changed his position, saying that they were inspired by Western agents.