23 October 2024, 19:11

Lukashenko: War in Ukraine will not end this year

KAZAN, 23 October (BelTA) – The war in Ukraine will not end this year, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Olga Skabeyeva on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia’s Kazan, BelTA has learned.

Olga Skabeyeva asked the head of state a question about Vladimir Zelensky and the possibility of an early end to the war: "About Volodya. Volodya Zelensky. Do you think the war will end soon? How do you see the prospects?"

"Olya, soon or not soon is not a measure of time. If you said ‘this year’, I would say: ‘No, the war will not end this year’," the Belarusian leader said.

"He [Vladimir Zelensky] said that it could end in 2025," Olga Skabeyeva said.

"Listen, getting out of the bunker and blurting something out without getting a grasp of the situation is easy. He gets out of the bunker and blurts things out. Let him gather first his closest people, at least those with influence in Ukraine, and consult with them. He must consult with the military, with his supporters. They will tell him what he can say and what he can't. He will be given the information. Yet he gets out of his bunker and blurts things out to the public. Realizing that he has the world’s attention to some extent today," Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “This is his wishful thinking. Nothing more. This is his essence. It's from inexperience."

“Therefore, his statements look simply ridiculous from experts’ point of,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

So you say there are no prerequisites for the end of the conflict, Olga Skabeyeva went on to say. “On the other hand, we are looking at how we, Russians, are advancing on the front,” she said, turning the conversation in a slightly different direction.

“Well, you are making advances. Even unexpected ones. Following Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Oblast (we had a meeting with Putin), he called them madmen. Russians calculated everything, outsmarted them. I voiced my opinion then, and our opinions coincided. This was the biggest mistake by the Ukrainian military,” the president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that the incursion into Kursk Oblast is, of course, unpleasant. But the Ukrainian side, according to him, has already lost about 25,000 people killed and wounded there. "You have learned to fight in Kursk Oblast. These are scattered groups of Ukrainians. They are fighting smart there too. You have learned to fight. You figured it out how to fight them there: group on a group. Once Ukrainian groups are identified they are shelled and destroyed completely," the Belarusian leader said.

According to him, it is extremely difficult for Ukraine to fight in Kursk Oblst, on foreign soil because in the Donbass the lines of defense were built long ago, and here they "jumped into a bare place."

The head of state noted that it may not be profitable for Russia to start negotiations today. "We are doing well, we are advancing," he cited a possible logic of reasoning. “Indeed, a lot of people are dying. Going on offenive is always more difficult than being on defensive. Well, this is war. If you decide to go war, you must understand this. The main thing is that there are advances. Russia have now stopped storming Pokrovsk head-on. They are bypassing it from the other sides. Ukraine are thinking of leaving in order to avoid getting cornered.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that so far the Russian authorities “have not said anything about it”. “I stay committed to a peaceful settlement. Behind all these successes, as history always teaches us, there is peace. What will be next? These are our people after all. Ukrainians are not strangers to us,” the Belarusian leader said.

“We do not yet know whether it is good in terms of negotiations or not that the Russians have launched an active offensive along the entire front line. Everything depends on the Russians,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.