Lukashenko presses Kiev to end conflict, otherwise Ukraine's 'total destruction' imminent
The Belarussian president stressed that "wherever one may cast a glance today, everyone talks about peace"
MINSK, November 24. /TASS/. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has called on Kiev to start negotiations and bring the conflict to an end, because otherwise Ukraine will face "complete destruction."
"Everything is in Ukraine’s own hands now. I’m saying this not because I want to shift this issue onto Zelensky or Ukraine. It is really so that everything is now in the hands of Ukraine itself," the Belarusian leader said, while answering Russian journalists’ questions on the sidelines of the CSTO summit in Yerevan regarding the possibility of concluding a peace agreement with Ukraine. An extract of the interview was released by the Pul_1 Telegram channel on Thursday.
Lukashenko stressed that if Ukraine "does not want the further loss of human life, moreover, an extremely heavy loss, then the conflict must be stopped."
"It's hard, it’s difficult, but it will have to be done, if they really want it, if they wish to recover. This must be stopped. Because otherwise Ukraine’s complete destruction will be imminent," Lukashenko warned.
He is certain that in due time relations between the two peoples will definitely be restored, as history has shown time and again that this is possible.
"Remember the way we were fighting with Nazi Germany? Thirty million died. Who remembers this today? In Belarus and Russia some people still do. That’s all. The wounds have healed," Lukashenko said. "We are ready to not just talk, we are ready to cooperate and be friends. In this case, too, we will manage to right this wrong. We will probably be able to explain, even now our generation will be able to explain, to the Ukrainian people what happened."
He stressed that "wherever one may cast a glance today, everyone talks about peace." Lukashenko stressed that ever more anti-war forces were pushing Ukraine towards negotiations.
Earlier, the Belarusian leader said that the Ukrainian people’s attitude to the current situation would eventually force the country's leadership, including President Vladimir Zelensky, to take a seat at the negotiating table.