The Dinamo Stadium will host the athletics and Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Minsk Games ©Minsk 2019

Belarus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei has given United Nations (UN) secretary general Antonio Guterres an invitation to the Opening Ceremony of the European Games which will be held in Minsk next year.

The invitation was from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who has asked Guterres to pay an official visit to Belarus to attend the second edition of the Games in the capital.

A meeting between Guterres and Makei was held to primarily discuss issues relating to the UN's 2030 agenda for sustainable development, according to BelTA.

Belarus expressed its support for the UN secretary general's initiatives "Youth 2030" and "Generation Unlimited", which are designed to get every young person into quality education, training or employment by 2030.

The invitation came from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko who has welcomed several foreign leaders to the host city ©Getty Images
The invitation came from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko who has welcomed several foreign leaders to the host city ©Getty Images

Next year's Games will open on June 21 and run through until June 30.

Lukashenko has reportedly asked other foreign leaders to the Opening Ceremony.

He extended the invitation at a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe.

CIS is a group of nine nations, including Russia, which were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

In total, 4,082 athletes from all 50 European National Olympic Committees are set to compete in Minsk in 15 sports: 3x3 basketball, archery, athletics, badminton, beach soccer, gymnastics, boxing, canoe sprint, cycling, judo, karate, sambo, shooting, table tennis and wrestling.