Aleksandr Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, told AFP in an interview that the war in Ukraine can be ended, provided one condition is met. “(The) ball is in Ukraine’s court now. The thing is that this war can be stopped on more acceptable terms for Ukraine. But no one will let Ukraine end the war,” he said, reported the Belarus official news agency, BelTA. “They should pledge that they will never threaten Russia and will not have weapons on their territory that will threaten Russia’s territory. This is the main thing. Denazification and so on is a philosophy. The main thing is the security of Russia. Taking into consideration Russia’s power and wealth, the Russian government will not back down from this,” he said. “Provide guarantees. Help Kiev. Kiev will give these guarantees if you, NATO members and Americans, agree that there will never be a threat to the Russian territory from the territory of Ukraine. And in this case, Russia will give security guarantees to Ukraine.”
Lukashenko went on to describe the West as the real aggressors. “You accuse me of being an aggressor. And you are what? You’re supplying weapons there. 20,000 mercenaries, including from France, have gone to fight there. You are the real aggressors!” he said. “Russia has preempted you, and I support it in this. If Russia’s military had missed that point, it would have been forced to face a massive blow from NATO, not from Ukraine. Now it is not Ukraine that is fighting. Now you are fighting there, with your mercenaries and your weapons. So you are aggressors, not me.”
