Vladimir Makei, the foreign minister of Belarus, has died at age 64, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported Saturday.

No cause of death was stated, but Belta said he passed away "suddenly."

Makei had been the foreign minister of the authoritarian country since 2012 and was one of longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko's close allies.

Before his time as a minister, he was Lukashenko's chief of staff.

Next in line for presidency?

Makei was also considered a possible successor to Lukashenko, who has ruled with an iron fist since 1994.

Born in 1958 in the western Grodno region, Makei studied in Minsk and Austria before serving in the Soviet and later Belarusian armed forces and then entering politics.

Earlier in his career, he served in several ministries and as Belarus' representative to the Council of Europe.

Just this week, Makei attended a conference in Yerevan, Armenia, of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of several post-Soviet states that has quashed civil disturbances in member states with the assistance of Russian forces in the past.

Lukashenko's regime is closely aligned with Moscow. Recently, Belarus, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, has been accused of becoming a vassal state of Moscow. Lukashenko has drawn widespread criticism for allowing Belarusian territory to be used by Moscow's troops to launch their invasion of Ukraine in February and as a staging ground for the war ever since.

Makei forced to eat his words

Ahead of the invasion, Belarus had held joint military maneuvers with Russia near Ukraine's border that spurred concerns of a possible attack.

Makei famously said that "not a single" Russian soldier would remain in Belarus after the war games, but Moscow moved troops into Ukraine a week later, including via Belarusian territory. 

In September, he defended Belarus' position in the Ukraine conflict to the UN Security Council.

"Belarus is referred to as an 'accomplice of the aggressor' or even a party to the conflict. We have said and continue to say: Belarus has never advocated the war. But we are not traitors either! We have allied commitments, and we are strictly following and will follow the spirit and letter of international treaties to which we are parties," he said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the Kremlin was "shocked" to hear of Makei's death.

In a message on her Telegram channel, Zakharova said Moscow would soon publish an official message of condolence.

During his tenure as foreign minister, Belarus also came under repeated criticism from the West for an increasingly harsh suppression of the opposition and for dubious elections.

Makei credited with reaching out to West

Before the 2020 contested presidential elections and subsequent crackdown on anti-government protesters, Makei had been one of the initiators of efforts to improve Belarus' relations with the West. He had also been critical of Russia before the mass demonstrations challenged Lukashenko's legitimacy.

After the start of the protests, though, Makei quickly changed his tune and claimed they were inspired by agents of the West.

mm/ar (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)