
MINSK, 28 February (BelTA) – Now there is a unique opportunity to end the conflict in Ukraine before Russia puts its economy on a stronger war footing, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with Chinese media, BelTA has learned.
“Now we have a unique situation (I see it and intuitively feel it) when it is possible to put an end to this conflict. There may not be another moment like this,” the head of state said answering a question about his take on the future of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “We must use this moment before Russia turns its economy into a war economy. This is a unique moment,” he said
According to the Belarusian leader, the goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin is primarily to ensure security for his country - so that there will never be signs of aggression against Russia from the territory of Ukraine.
“Russia is ready to take steps towards a peaceful settlement. It has been doing this from the first days: two rounds of peace talks were held in Belarus, after that they [the participants of the talks] moved to Istanbul, and then they refused to negotiate altogether, although a settlement plan was on the table. I believe that the West and the Americans pushed Kiev to cut off all negotiations. Russia proposed negotiations from day one. We were involved in this process, we organized it, we saw it,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that all wars end in peace, and this war is no exception. The only question is how many people will die and in the name of what.
The president believes that if another conflict arises in the world, everyone will forget about Ukraine. If, God forbid, relations between the United States and China escalate, if it comes to an open conflict between these two global powers, then the world will turn its attention away from Ukraine. “Ukraine must understand this. Therefore, there is no other way but to conclude a peace deal now. Without preconditions. We must negotiate with the Ukrainian military. Volodya Zelensky is a good person, but very inexperienced. He enjoys it when people applaud him. But, you know, applause can be far from sincere. He must understand this. So he went to the West and everyone there shouts ‘Hurrah' and applauds. And I remind him of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev: he traveled to the West, everyone applauded him and how did he end up? It will be the same here,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“We must take care of the interests of our own people. We must do everything to prevent more deaths of Ukrainians. They are wonderful, good people. We must stop this war. There is only one way - peace,” the president summed up.