Opinions & Interviews
Lukashenko names key condition for ending war in Ukraine
MINSK, 21 July (BelTA) – It is possible to put an end to the war in Ukraine immediately, but there is one important condition that needs to be met, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), BelTA has learned.
“Ball is in Ukraine’s court now. The thing is that this war can be stopped on more acceptable terms for Ukraine. But no one will let Ukraine end the war,” the president believes.
According to the head of state, first and foremost Ukraine should sit down at the negotiating table. “They should pledge that they will never threaten Russia and will not have weapons on their territory that will threaten Russia’s territory. This is the main thing. Denazification and so on is a philosophy. The main thing is the security of Russia. Taking into consideration Russia’s power and wealth, the Russian government will not back down from this,” he noted.
“Provide guarantees. Help Kiev. Kiev will give these guarantees if you, NATO members and Americans, agree that there will never be a threat to the Russian territory from the territory of Ukraine. And in this case Russia will give security guarantees to Ukraine,” Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced.
The French journalist asked about Kherson, Donetsk, and Lugansk.
“Listen, this is no longer under discussion. You could have talked about it in February-March. You know, Russian people living there were mistreated by the Ukrainians. Why so? I am not punishing the Poles for the policy that Poland is pursuing towards us. I keep saying that we have ethnic Poles, but these are ‘my’ Poles. They have the same rights as the Belarusians. We love, respect and appreciate them. And they act decently by and large. Why would they need to ban the Russian language, why would Poroshenko and Zelensky pursue such a domestic policy in Ukraine? By doing this, they have been pushing Ukraine towards the war,” the president said.
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