MINSK: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he recently met with representatives of Vladimir Zelensky in Minsk. Ukraine nee...
MINSK: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he recently met with representatives of Vladimir Zelensky in Minsk.
Ukraine needs to negotiate, not just "posture," he told Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov.
TASS has compiled the key statements of the Belarusian leader.
Meeting with Zelensky's representatives
Lukashenko recently met with representatives of Vladimir Zelensky in Minsk: "Zelensky's representatives recently visited us. I told them bluntly, ‘Guys, tell your president that if he thinks he can talk to us like this and drag us into a war, then he should understand that the nature of the war will change instantly. This war will be completely different.’ By the way, we received an answer: the president and they understand this."
A call to negotiate
Ukraine needs to negotiate, not just "posture": "Let's negotiate, guys. It is necessary to negotiate substantially. No need to 'posture,' no need to make a big show of things."
Relations with Russia
Belarus will stand by Russia, come hell or high water: "It cannot be otherwise. We understand what might happen if the West gets involved again."
The need for peace
Belarus has enough resources, and doesn’t need more; what it needs is "peace and only peace," but on fair terms: "We don't need a war. We have enough land, and our economy is big enough, and we have our own problems. This is why there is no confrontation, there is no need to ‘posture’ here. I'm saying this so that you can understand my position. I'm not hiding it. Peace and only peace. But with a full guarantee that they will not play with us and, like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin says they will not be able to deceive us anew, because any deception of Russia will affect Belarus too. We are at the forefront of our Fatherland - we are well aware of this.
"How can we fight against Ukrainians, if there are mainly territorial troops on the other side? Are we going to shoot these mechanics, milkmaids and working stiffs who don't want to fight with Belarusians? We also don't want to fight the Ukrainians.
"Ukraine today is a bargaining chip in a big game."
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