Lukashenko: 'Zelensky is destroying Ukraine'

MINSK, 16 February (BelTA) – By his actions to escalate and continue the conflict, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is destroying the country, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he talked to foreign and Belarusian journalists in Minsk on 16 February, BelTA has learned.

"Volodya Zelensky is destroying Ukraine," the head of state said.

No one will be restoring Ukraine after the conflict is over, Aleksandr Lukashenko said. "You see, a new pressing problem will emerge tomorrow and the world will turn its attention to it. They will forget about Ukraine. It will take a hundred years [to restore the country]. No one will help," the Belarusian leader is sure.

If someone still does, whether it is the United States or the European Union, then others will govern the country, by economic methods. "If Ukraine needs it, if Zelensky needs it, then let them continue the war. But this is not something that ordinary people need," the head of state emphasized.

The military in Ukraine do not need it either. "That's why I say that we need to talk to the military there. Slowly, step by step, we will come to an agreement somehow," the president said.

He drew an analogy with the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War, which lasted several years: "We thought that we would never shake hands with the Germans again. Yet we became friends. There are many such facts in history. It's just a pity that a lot of people don't understand that."

Aleksandr Lukashenko believes that the escalation of the conflict, that is still using conventional weapons, is dangerous. But it could potentially turn hypersonic, God forbid, nuclear. "That's the danger. Therefore, it is important to stop the war, to stop fooling around and lay down arms," the head of state said.