AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan is ready to organize talks on East Ukraine reconciliation in its capital Astana if the parties to the conflict agree, Kazakhstan’s UN envoy Kairat Umarov said on Friday, commenting on the possibility of relocating the talks, currently held in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, Tass reports.

The issue was raised during a meeting between Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and US President Donald Trump last week, Umarov said.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makei said in a statement on January 19 that moving the talks to a new venue wouldn't change anything. 

"The negotiations' venue is hardly relevant," Makei said. "The negotiations on Ukraine could even be moved to Antarctica if there is a certainty about their success," RFE/RL reported Makei as saying.

 Makei also said Belarus is not "seeking peacemaker's laurels unlike some others."