Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has defended Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an interview with the Associated Press, but said he did not expect the 10-week conflict to “drag on.”
Mr Lukashenko has spoken out against the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but declined to comment on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to use them.
Mr Lukashenko said Moscow, which launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 – partly from its own territory – had to act because Kyiv was “provoking Russia”.
“I have not delved so much into this problem to say whether it goes according to plan, as the Russians say, or as I feel,” he said. “I want to emphasize once again: I feel that this business has grown.”
Lukashenko’s support for the war has provoked international criticism and sanctions against Minsk. Some Russian troops have been sent from Belarus to Ukraine, and Lukashenko has publicly sided with his longtime ally, who has channeled billions of dollars into supporting the Soviet-style, state-controlled economy with cheap energy.
Mr Lukashenko has said he and his country are in favor of peace and have repeatedly called for an end to the war.
“We do not categorically accept any war. We have done and are doing everything now so that there is no war. Thanks to me, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have begun,” he said.
Mr Lukashenko has spoken out against the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict. “Whether or not Russia is capable of such a thing is a question that must be asked of the Russian leadership,” he said of the use of such weapons.
Russia “by definition can not lose this war,” Lukashenko said, noting that Belarus was the only country on Moscow ‘s side, while “up to 50 countries have joined forces” on Ukraine’ s side.
He added that Putin did not seek a direct confrontation with NATO and that the West should ensure that this did not happen.
“He probably does not want a global conflict with NATO. Use it. Use it and do everything possible to prevent it from happening. Otherwise, even if Putin does not want it, the military will react,” the Belarusian leader warned.
Mr Lukashenko, 67, called Mr Putin his “big brother” and said the Russian leader had “no closer, more open or more friendly relations with any of the world’s leaders other than the President of Belarus”.
Their relationship has been particularly close recently, but turbulent in recent years. Ahead of the controversial 2020 election, which sparked mass protests and internal repression by Lukashenko, he often accused the Kremlin of trying to force him to relinquish control of valuable financial assets and relinquish his country’s independence.
Faced with severe economic sanctions after brutally suppressing the protests, the Belarusian leader began stressing the need to jointly address Western pressure and met regularly with Putin, stressing their close ties.
Lithuania’s support for the invasion of Ukraine has not reached the point of troop deployment, with the Belarusian president telling the AP that Minsk is not a threat to Ukraine, even if its military exercises this week.
“We are not threatening anyone and we are not going to threaten. In addition, we can not threaten, we know who opposes us, so launching some kind of conflict, some kind of war here is not entirely in the interest of the Belarusian state. So the West can “She is sleeping peacefully,” he said.
Source: Capital
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