The situation in Belarus is currently difficult, and its authorities need to open a dialogue with society, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, advising Ukrainian citizens to refrain from traveling to Belarus until the situation there stabilizes.

"We are currently discussing this with the Foreign Ministry, and they contacted the Belarusian side already yesterday: three of our Ukrainian citizens, I currently don't have any other figures, have been detained there. Negotiations are now in progress. We resolutely want them to return our citizens to Ukraine," Zelensky said.

The head of state said: "I would like no deaths, no injuries to occur there. I would like the authorities to genuinely engage in dialogue with all people, with their society. We see that the situation there is difficult, unstable, and serious," Zelensky said at a press briefing in Boryspil on Thursday.

"Due to the fact that our people have been detained there, I would like to advise Ukrainians to refrain from traveling to Belarus until the situation there more or less stabilizes," he said.

Zelensky also said he does not know whether the ongoing protests in Belarus will affect the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on settling the situation in eastern Ukraine scheduled for August 18.