MINSK, 6 May (BelTA) – Sanctions cannot do any good, they are disadvantageous to all the sides, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with the Associated Press, BelTA has learned.
“You are used to doing it for no good reason,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said answering a question about the sanctions, and cited the Ryanair flight case as an example.
“What aren't you asking me about this? Why don't you list it as a claim against me? Because it was all made up on your part. ICAO specialists [International Civil Aviation Organization] figured it out: there was no reason to blame us for it. It was followed by silence. Everything will clear up soon. Your sanctions are illegal, especially the ones against Belarus,” the Belarusian leader is convinced.
“You criticize me for being an aggressor... I have just told you: you are bigger aggressors than I am, because you are involved directly through private military companies, mercenaries, and you supply weapons to Ukraine. Therefore, you are bigger aggressors,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
The president remarked skeptically: “Belarus and I are waging a weird ‘war', as our military did not kill a single Ukrainian and a single Russian in this war. Russians and Ukrainians did not kill a single Belarusian. It is a strange war, is not it? So wake up, what are you blaming me for?”
Aleksandr Lukashenko also spoke about his role in arranging the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, the first rounds of which were held in Belarus: “When I initiated these talks, I called Zelensky. I knew Putin's position. I invited him and suggested three locations in Belarus. Zelensky was against it, he agreed to the third location. These negotiations began - the second round, the third one. After that the Americans did not like it saying that the dictator was hosting the negotiations. Zelensky was instructed not to go to Belarus. Fine. These negotiations are now not seen and not heard.”
“Therefore, do not say that I am fighting a war somewhere. If I am at war, then this is such an interesting war, where no one is killed. Therefore, it's time to end the sanctions. Let's live peacefully,” he said.
