Belarus foreign minister Vladimir Makei has died at the age of 64, the state news agency Belta reported on Saturday.
Makei died "suddenly" at the age of 64, Belta said, adding the sad news was announced by Anatoly Glaz, the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Makei had been serving as the country's foreign minister since 2012.
He had attended a conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) - a military alliance of several post soviet states - in Yerevan earlier this week and was due to meet Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
Before the presidential elections and mass anti-government protests in Belarus in 2020, Makei had been one of the initiators of efforts to improve Belarus' relations with the West and had criticised Russia.
However, he abruptly changed his stance after the start of the protests, claiming they were inspired by agents of the West.
"We are shocked by the reports of the death of the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted in her Telegram channel. "Official condolences will be published soon."
