Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has come forward as a peacemaker in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Lukashenko said his country is doing everything it can to end the war in an interview with the AP news agency on Thursday. «We categorically do not accept war. We have done everything and are doing everything to ensure that there is no war,” he said. “Thanks to yours truly, me, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have begun.”
At the same time, Lukashenko admitted that he had expected a quick victory for Russia and not that the invasion would be so protracted. “But I’m not familiar enough with this problem to say whether it’s going according to plan, as the Russians say,” he said. “I have the feeling that this operation has dragged on.”
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Lukashenko accused Ukraine of provoking Russia. “Why is Ukraine, on whose territory the war is actually taking place – military actions, people are dying – why is Ukraine not interested in these negotiations?” he asked.
Russia also launched its invasion of Ukraine ten weeks ago from Belarusian territory. Previously, the soldiers were sent to Belarus under the pretext of military maneuvers. Lukashenko has publicly supported the invasion and, in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in early March, said Ukraine had planned to attack Belarus. The Russian attack thwarted this. Lukashenko did not provide any evidence of this.
