Belarus President Alexandr Lukashenko granted a lengthy interview to Diana Panchenko, a noted Ukrainian journalist who is not a mouthpiece for the regime. Panchenko had asked for an interview in which she could ask any questions, and Lukashenko agreed. Lukashenko said that the war could have been avoided. Serving as a go-between for Putin and then-Ukrainian president Poroshenko, he related his discussions with Poroshenko regarding the situation in eastern Ukraine. He told him that he should simply agree to the Minsk proposals of special status for Lugansk and Donbass and hold elections there.
“Poroshenko tells me this: ‘Why should I hold elections? They will be held under the control of Russia.’ (Lukashenko:) I told him: ‘Petro, well, this year, supposedly, they will be held under the control of Russia. This is what we can agree on.’ And I suggested to them: I will hold elections there, I will do as you agree — Putin, Poroshenko. And I’ll do it as you decide. Poroshenko refused. Putin agreed to everything.”
According to Lukashenko, if the Minsk agreements had been implemented then, everything would have been quiet and calm. The Ukrainian hryvnia [the national currency—ed.] would circulate in the respective territories, and in general the regions and the border with Russia would be under the control of Ukraine.
