Foreign minister dies on eve of meeting counterpart

The long-serving foreign minister of Belarus, Europe’s last dictatorship, has died unexpectedly, shortly before he was due to meet his Russian counterpart. The death of Vladimir Makei, 64, who had held his post since 2012, was announced by the state news agency, Belta, which did not give a cause. He was not known to have been suffering from any chronic illness. Makei was occasionally critical of Moscow but supported President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s decision this year to allow Russia to attack Ukraine with missiles, aircraft and ground troops from Belarusian territory.