March 16, 2025 (EIRNS)—Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who probably not by happenstance was with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a March 13 joint press conference when Putin announced that he was open to the U.S. ceasefire proposal if a number of conditions are met, addressed the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, on March 14. It is rare that a foreign head of state is honored in that fashion.
Lukashenko has played a significant role in pushing toward a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis, and at the same time has brought Belarus and Russia closer together in what is called their Union State. The Union State was negotiated between Lukashenko and Boris Yeltsin, after the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, when Lukashenko realized that the West was not interested in dealing with their nations as equal partners. Lukashenko also maintains close relations to those forces in Ukraine that are also interested in a lasting peace in the region, a relationship that could become important as negotiations proceed. In an interview with Russia’s Rossiya-1 TV on March 14 he reiterated his call for the three Slavic nations, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, to sit down together to work out a peaceful resolution.
Lukashenko spoke for an hour and a half to the Federation Council, with a written speech, but most of his remarks were off the cuff, interspersed with his characteristic folksy style of humor. The audience was hanging on every word, spontaneously applauding at some of his comments.
“There is no Russophobia in our country,” Lukashenko said. “There is a respectful attitude towards common history, religion, and traditions. Many years ago, I said that Belarus would never allow its elder brother—the Russian people—to be stabbed in the back. We do not change this promise today, reliably protecting and preserving our union.”
