Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko put forward concrete proposals on restoring peace in the eastern part of Ukraine at the opening of the Munich Security Conference Core Group Meeting in Minsk on 31 October, BelTA has learned.

“Let us be frank: the conflict in the Donbass could have been resolved a long time ago, if wished. We need to continue building up the capacities of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and the trilateral contact group. We are ready to consider the establishment of a technical support center of the trilateral contact group in Minsk and do other things we can agree on in Europe today,” the head of state said.

He also deems it necessary to complement the diplomatic dialogue with contacts between MPs, local authorities, civil society and experts.

“It is necessary to keep searching for a mutually acceptable way of deploying peacekeeping forces in the Donbass. One of possible solutions is a joint mission of the United Nations and the OSCE in Ukraine. It may comprise the military, police, civilian personnel from the countries that have made contribution to the resolution of the conflict since it started. We need to ensure a principle of incrementalism in the deployment of this mission. But almost no time is left,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian leader also suggested intensifying the work of the Normandy format to provide a clear mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the Minsk accords. “However, taking into account the experience of previous years, there are concerns that this will not be enough,” he said.

“Belarus is a small country but we are ready to contribute to the resolution of certain conflicts. In fact, this is what we are already doing. But we want to see more interest in our efforts on the part of key world players,” the president said.

“Simply put, we can assume responsibility for securing peace in the eastern regions of Ukraine and control on the Ukrainian-Russian border. We can oversee the elections in the Donbass, proceeding from the premise that these regions are an integral part of Ukraine,” the head of state noted.

“Do not rush to reject this. We do not want to show off. Ukrainian people respect our position and the role we have played since the beginning of the conflict; this is what our proposals proceed from. We are ready to solve this problem, only if we are confident that the main players want peace in our common European home, that there are no people who would like to heat up the situation in Ukraine and make it a reference point in order to fan tensions between Russia and Belarus. I think I should not go any further,” the president said.

“People are tired of the war in Ukraine. Nobody needs this war, either Belarus or Russia,” the Belarusian leader said.

Any attempt to do finger-pointing while trying to restore peace in the Donbass region will be the biggest mistake. “We must never pass this conflict to our children. The search for those responsible is the issue we can leave to next generation. They will sort this out should they want to. We should not look for those responsible today. Today we must solve the problem. Otherwise, any talks about our European home of peace and concord are at least not honest,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.

“For these proposals to materialize, we need to discuss them at the negotiating table, with the participation of all parties involved. Let's be honest: if we fail to bring the United States of America to this table, we are unlikely to reach the goal,” the head of state noted.