Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) – Political and economic machinations are behind rising tensions in the region. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement as a meeting of the Core Group of the Munich Security Conference opened in Minsk on 31 October, BelTA has learned.

Alexander Lukashenko said: “I am convinced that nobody in Europe and beyond its borders wants an open military clash of the East and the West. But let’s be realistic. Today one can see a major political and economic machination designed to raise tensions in our region. The whirlwind of confrontation consumes more and more countries, evolving into a confrontation of blocs.”

In his words, in many cases the conflict could be fixed, smoothed, and softened but there was no political will for it. “It is too late to throw accusations. But due to the lack of political will we’ve been stuck with dead ends in negotiations on all the hot spots and in all the formats we know for many years,” stressed Alexander Lukashenko.

The Belarus president believes that if the avalanche of confrontation and the breaking of universal rules of the game are not stopped soon, the confrontation will reach new heights. “Not only Ukraine or Eastern Europe will go up in flames. A nuclear conflict between major powers with no winners at the end is near,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

The Belarus president also drew attention to the growing number of problems in Southeast Europe.