Photo courtesy of Ukraine President's Office
MOSCOW, 12 April (BelTA) – Vladimir Zelensky's expiring mandate can trigger a number of problems, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told reporters during a media scrum in the Kremlin when he was asked about prospects for a peace deal in Ukraine, BelTA has learned.
The Belarusian president was asked why he believes that Ukraine will soon come to its senses. “I have a sense of what is happening in Ukraine. I don’t want to offend Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelensky. Yesterday I discussed it with President Putin, we analyzed the dynamics. We are closely watching what is happening inside Ukraine. Indeed, the main thing is what is going on inside the country. At the beginning of the special military operation Vladimir Zelensky had an approval rating of almost 98%. Today figures vary. Some say 34%, and the latest data from Russians gave him about 14%. Zaluzhny has the highest rating - 35%. Still not much. You see that the president's approval rating has taken a massive hit,” noted the head of state.
He also recalled that Vladimir Zelensky’s term in office will expire in May and this may pose a risk for the legitimacy of potential agreements. “A situation may arise when Putin himself will ask: “Guys, who should we sign an agreement with? The term of the Ukrainian president has expired.” Let's say, today we will sign some agreement with him, tomorrow [another politician] will come to power, take over as president and will not like it. And the probability of that is high, we know this from the situation with the Minsk agreements. You remember it. They will dismiss it and say: “It was signed by the illegitimate president! I have no idea about it.” That's what a new president will say,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The head of state believes that this is a very plausible scenario: “God forbid Piotr Poroshenko [Ukraine's former president] comes to power. He will say: “I am not aware of this and I don’t want to know!” If Americans use the financial leverage (money talks) and tell him to go on with the war, the war will continue.”
“Therefore, as the first president of Russia said, there is a nuance here,” added Aleksandr Lukashenko.
