Tsikhanouskaya Meets "Child of Belarus" Keanu Reeves in New York

The meeting took place before the Global Citizen Awards ceremony, an annual event organized by the influential American analytical center Atlantic Council during the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly.

Before the main part of the evening, the organizers held a small private reception for VVIP guests — "very, very important persons." There, part of the Belarusian delegation, including Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, met with the star of "The Matrix" and "John Wick."

"There are many of us here"

The conversation included a Belarusian joke. In the third part of "John Wick," Keanu Reeves' character reveals his true name — Jardani Jovanovich — and states that he was born in Belarus and is a "child of Belarus."

Tsikhanouskaya's team exchanged a joke with Reeves' team on this occasion.

"We told them: 'You know, he's not the only child of Belarus in this room today; there are many of us here.' Everyone had a good laugh," Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's advisor on diplomacy, Dzianis Kuchynski, told "Nasha Niva."

According to him, in real life, Reeves turned out to be as simple and open as people who met him previously often describe him.

What Keanu Reeves was doing at a political event

Keanu Reeves was at the ceremony to present one of the laureates from the stage — the President and CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali.

Reeves has long been interested in motorsports, and in his speech, he noted that under Domenicali, Formula 1 has transformed from an international championship into a global cultural phenomenon.

In addition to Domenicali, this year's Global Citizen Awards were presented to Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and British actress and singer Cynthia Erivo. More than 700 politicians, diplomats, business leaders, media representatives, and public organizations gathered at the event.

Not just a meeting with a movie star

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has been attending the ceremony for several years at the personal invitation of the Atlantic Council leadership. The organization consistently provides a platform for Belarusian democratic forces and holds discussions about the future of Belarus.

At the same ceremony, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke with former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Representative to the UN Mike Waltz.

And a year ago, at the same venue, Tsikhanouskaya's delegation met with Ukrainian football legend Andriy Shevchenko.

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