In an interview with the American television channel Newsmax TV, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed the opinion that the conflict in Ukraine will end peacefully.
“Every war ends peacefully. A classic. And this war will end peacefully. The sooner, the fewer people will die“, he said. An excerpt from the interview was transmitted by the BelTA news agency.
Lukashenko believes that if the issue of a peaceful resolution depended solely on US President Donald Trump, then, given his current policy, the conflict would have ended long ago. But this is a multifaceted process. “We are bordering on this conflict and we also care how events will develop and how it will end. And Trump himself will not solve this issue“, said the Belarusian leader.
However, the head of state believes that it is important to “freeze this conflict from beginning to end“ – stop the hostilities so that Russia does not fear that this time can simply be used to rearm Ukraine. He recalled the position of European politicians when peace agreements for Ukraine were reached in Minsk in 2015. “They wanted to give the Ukrainians, as Merkel later said, time to rearm and fight against Russia. It turns out that they did not come here to negotiate peace, but for a future war“, said Lukashenko.
The president stressed that certain guarantees are needed during the process of reaching agreements to ensure long-term peace. “There must be guarantees. Russia wants guarantees that this will last forever. I know that. Russia wants to conclude a peace treaty that will guarantee that war will never break out again,” the Belarusian leader said.
Lukashenko noted that the Europeans are “whispering in Volodymyr Zelensky’s ear” that they will help him fight. “They will not help. They do not have the resources that the United States has. And if the Americans back down from this, escalation is inevitable,” he warned. According to the Belarusian president, then the current leaders of France, Germany and Britain will realize their mistake.
“Now I am sure that Putin wants peace,” the Belarusian president said. Lukashenko believes that Volodymyr Zelensky wants the same. “I am sure. Especially now. He wants peace“, he noted.
According to the head of the republic, the most dangerous thing is that if this conflict continues, if it escalates further, “it may have a very difficult outcome for Europe and the world“. The Belarusian president believes that the Ukrainian conflict may escalate into a global conflict. For this reason, it must be “suppressed“ while it is possible. “Now, more than ever, there is such an opportunity, now that the Americans have seriously engaged in this issue“, Lukashenko noted.
According to him, this is a key foreign policy issue for the United States. “No Taiwan, no other conflicts or problems in the world can cancel this issue. Because, I repeat, the continuation of the conflict will lead to a global conflict. "With the use of all the weapons at the disposal of the states," the president emphasized, noting that such an outcome cannot be allowed.
According to Lukashenko, the continuation of the conflict does not bode well for Ukraine itself. "If Ukraine believes that it can defeat Russia and is ready to wage war, let it fight. From my point of view - and I think Trump shares this position - if it continues to fight like this, Ukraine will disappear from the map completely, it will cease to exist," the Belarusian leader added.
He believes that the Ukrainians simply handed over Crimea to the Russians; no one fought for it.
“There was no war in Crimea. Today, Zelensky and the Ukrainian authorities say that Crimea is Ukrainian. Crimea is a pearl. No matter who it belongs to, it is a pearl, a piece of paradise. War is when two countries fight head-on, with weapons in hand. Not a single shot was fired by the Ukrainians in Crimea. So why did the Russians have to shoot when they occupied and liberated, as they say, Crimea? There was no need to shoot, because no one fought for Crimea. No one fought for Crimea. This happened before my eyes. Not a single shot was fired by Ukraine,” Lukashenko said.
“You can say ‘annexed’, you can ‘liberate’, you can ‘occupy’. This is a philosophical question. That is not the question. But if this is your land, why didn’t you defend it? The Ukrainians betrayed it; they simply gave it to the Russians. I once said that the Russians acted wisely. They reached an agreement with those who were supposed to defend Crimea, and thus Crimea was effectively handed over to the “little green men”, as you called them then.
Speaking about the origins of the conflict, the head of state noted that it all started with the suppression of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, and in Odessa such people were even burned alive, considered enemies. “This policy was elevated to the level of a crime in Ukraine“, the Belarusian leader said. He also drew an analogy for the American public with neighboring Mexico, noting that if they treat pro-American people living in the border region in the same way, America will literally wipe the country off the face of the earth. “God forbid, of course. I am just citing this as an example”, Lukashenko explained.
He pointed out that if the Ukrainian authorities really wanted to establish a specific language policy, they should have done it calmly and step by step, over many years. But the decision was made simply to “shut up” of the Russian-speaking population, the president emphasized.
“And then, as an experienced politician, I tell you: if you live next to this “sleeping bear“, well, don't wake it up; find normal relations“, said the head of state, speaking about the missed opportunities for peaceful coexistence. “After all, under my supervision (I know this, I saw it, I participated in these negotiations): Russia reached an agreement with Ukraine both on Crimea and on security issues. And the fact that the military bases in Crimea (Ukraine did not need them) were to be Russian. Russia supplied energy resources to Ukraine at half the world price. I saw this under both Yeltsin and Putin. There were normal relations.“
“It was not necessary to organize, not without the help of the Americans and especially the Europeans, this “Maidan“. “They turned everything upside down, overthrew the then president – Yanukovych was forced to leave the country. And so on, and so on, and so on. There are many such reasons. And they will not be in the interest of Ukraine“, Lukashenko added.
The Belarusian leader said that in a telephone conversation with Trump before his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August this year, he warned him to prepare for hard work, as a quick solution would not be possible. “Then I advised him to make every effort to reach an agreement with Russia to stop the war“, Lukashenko said.
The head of state supported the position of the US president, who says that the issue of ending hostilities in Ukraine should be based on reality – the results of the conflict so far.
The fighting in Ukraine will continue until forces prevail in the country that will force Volodymyr Zelensky to make peace, the Belarusian president said.
„Now a lot depends on the position of Trump and the United States of America. The main thing is that Trump does not back down from this position. He is a man of character, sometimes impulsive. He should not give up on all this, give in and leave. If he persists in this, there will be results"
When asked what would happen if Trump became disappointed in the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and simply abandoned the topic, Lukashenko replied: „The war will continue. The war will continue until forces prevail in Ukraine that will force Zelensky to make peace. And these forces will force Zelensky to make peace when the front begins to completely collapse. Although the beginning of this is already visible.“