CNN —
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has died at the age of 64, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday.
“Vladimir Makei, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, passed away suddenly today,” the Foreign Ministry announced on its official Facebook account, without providing any details about the circumstances of the Foreign Minister’s death.
Makei was born in 1958 in the Grodno region of Belarus. According to his official biography on the State Department’s website, he had been in office since August 2012.
According to Russian state media company RIA Novosti, Makei was scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday offered his condolences to Makei’s family and friends, according to a statement published on the president’s website.
The Russian Foreign Ministry added in a statement that it was “deeply shocked” by the news of his death.
“As head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he made a great contribution to further strengthening Russian-Belarusian relations,” it said.
“As a well-established professional and a sincere patriot of his country, he decisively and effectively defended the interests of the Republic of Belarus on international platforms,” the ministry continued, adding that “this is a heavy, irreparable loss.”