MINSK, 2 March (BelTA) – It is almost certain today that the negotiations on Ukraine will be conducted by two parties - Russia and the United States. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko predicted it ten years ago, when the conflict in Ukraine was still confined to the Donbass region. In this episode of BelTA's YouTube project “How It Was”, we will go back to 2015, the year that saw many momentous events that had a profound impact not only on Belarus, but also on the whole of Europe.
In 2015, the first truly serious step was taken towards peace in Ukraine. Donbass was already engulfed by the war, and it seemed like it was hardly possible to stop it. But Belarus did not give up its attempts to put an end to the armed conflict in the neighboring country. After all, Ukrainians are kin people for Belarusians. Aleksandr Lukashenko said this more than once. But it is impossible to reconcile the warring parties with words alone. That is why the president had to act.
In fact, our leader had been calling for peace since the very beginning of this war. In September 2014, a meeting of the trilateral contact group for the peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine was held in the Belarusian capital. At that time, authorized representatives of Ukraine, the OSCE and Russia arrived in Minsk. You can learn more about this meeting in the episode about 2014 of our project “How It Was”.
In February 2015, a higher-level group gathered in Minsk. The leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia arrived one after another at the Palace of Independence. The negotiations of the Normandy Four resulted in a ceasefire agreement. The four leaders discussed issues of war and peace for 17 long hours without sleep or rest. But given the importance of the problem, this was not long at all. Our president also gave his take on it.
“Do not put too much emphasis on the fact that these negotiations took so long. Issues of war and peace take months, or even years to resolve,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said in a conversation with journalists.
Now Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande claim that they tried to deceive Vladimir Putin back then in order to buy time for Ukraine. But our president has no doubts that the intentions of the leaders of Germany and France in 2015 were absolutely serious.
By the way, the president knew who would be involved in the Ukraine peace talks long before the conflict escalated into an all-out war. The president shared his thoughts on this in an interview with non-state media. Aleksandr Lukashenko said the following: Russia and the United States must sit down at the negotiating table and end the conflict in Ukraine. That's exactly what is happening today, ten years later.
The year 2015 was also remembered as a period of re-engagement between Belarus and the West. This was also acknowledged by outgoing Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Maira Mora at a meeting with the president. She said that she was leaving Belarus at a time when its relations with the European Union were on the upward trajectory.
“I would like to see the relations remain like this in the future. We are neighbors and we should live in peace and harmony,” Maira Mora said back then.
Perhaps this rapprochement was the reason why the 2015 presidential election was the calmest in the history of sovereign Belarus. Yet, the 2025 presidential election campaign was even calmer.
Of course, this year will be remembered for many other remarkable events. In 2015, while speaking at the UN, the head of state warned that the conflict in Ukraine could affect the whole world. “The Ukrainian crisis. Unless we stop the bloodshed in Europe, the fratricidal slaughter, and prevent the escalation of this conflict, the entire civilized world will be affected. I apologize for being so blunt, but this will be another step towards a global conflict, and perhaps a new world war, this time in the center of the civilized and advanced world. How come, having entered the new millennium, we still have not realized how fragile the world and human civilization are?” the president of Belarus asked from the UN rostrum. You can watch Aleksandr Lukashenko's full speech in our YouTube project “How It Was. DOC”.
There were many other interesting events in 2015. Aleksandr Lukashenko taught French actor Gérard Depardieu how to mow the grass, laid a time capsule at the construction site of the Minsk World complex, visited the new maternity bloc of Minsk City Hospital No.5 in the run-up to the New Year 2016... To find out what other events defined the year 2015, watch the new episode of our YouTube project “How It Was”.
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