Lukashenko on peace prospects in Ukraine

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke about those who do not want peace in Ukraine and also named the reasons for Belarus to use its army as he met with foreign and Belarusian journalists in Minsk on 16 February, BelTA has learned.

“I am ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case: if at least one soldier sets foot in Belarus to kill my people. If they commit aggression against Belarus, the answer will be immediate. The war will acquire a completely different scale then,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko added that this pertained not only to Ukraine but also to other neighbors of Belarus.

Answering the question from the BBC journalist, he recalled that even before Russia started its special military operation, Ukraine was preparing to use its multiple rocket launchers against Belarus. “Ukraine was doing it deliberately. I do not know why they needed it. They came under fire from the territory of Belarus in the first minutes. It was in the morning, a few minutes before the start of the special military operation,” he said.

The president said that back in 2020, Ukraine was actually the first to impose sanctions against Belarus, even before the Western countries did it. “It was not the United States, not the Anglo-Saxons, not Western Europe. Unfortunately, it was our kin nation of Ukraine. It closed the airspace, launched provocations, trained fighters,” the head of state said.

He also recalled statements by Western politicians that the Minsk agreements were used as an opportunity to prepare the Ukrainian army for war.
"You call it 'an invasion'. I think otherwise. It's not an invasion. The Ukrainian authorities provoked this operation. By actions like that. I just named a few of them. Had they reached an agreement with Russia there would have been no war. But everything was tailored, starting with the Minsk agreements, to unleash a war,” the Belarusian leader stated. “There was no invasion. I believe this is the protection of the interests of Russia and those people, Russian people, who live there."

Aleksandr Lukashenko also recalled the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in Donbass and the Odessa tragedy.

The president is sure that Ukraine was only a pretext for the war that the West was pushing. Moreover, there is interest in the dismemberment of Ukraine. "You blame Russia. But it is you who want to dismember Ukraine by the hands of Poland," he said.

The head of state called for peace talks: "If you want peace in Ukraine, let's start talking about peace as early as tomorrow. And the guns will stop shelling. But you [the West] don't want that. You are escalating this conflict today. People are dying. Let's stop that. Everything is in place for this. No. You don't want that. Europe is ready for this because it knows what it can lead to. The United States does not want that. They’ve bent Europe over and are making it do it whatever they want."

Returning to the question of whether "aggression" on the part of Belarus is possible, Aleksandr Lukashenko once again repeated: "We are a peaceful nation. We know what war is. We don't want war. We are in no way going to send our troops to Ukraine. Unless you commit aggression on Belarus from there. Here's my answer. It was given a long time ago."

The president also recalled that Russia is an ally of Belarus. The countries have a joint group of forces. Even so, Russia has never asked Belarus to start a war against Ukraine.

The job of  Belarus is to provide security in the western direction. Aleksandr Lukashenko voiced intelligence data that the West wants to draw Belarus into the war and is literally dreaming of it. Given the length of the borders of Belarus, this would further stretch the front by 2,500 kilometers, which would complicate the situation for the troops of Belarus and Russia.

"This is a good scenario. But empty, clueless. We won't give you that chance. But if you dare to set foot on our land, the answer will be the toughest. The West knows how we will respond and what weapons we will use," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

He noted that in peacetime the Belarusian army is 75,000-strong. But if necessary, if there is war, it can be increased to half a million.

"Nobody needs war. While there is no expansion of the hostilities today, let's negotiate peace," the head of state urged.

At the same time, he believes that the West and Ukraine are not yet ready for this. "Not only are you not ready, it would be a terrible tragedy and a disaster for you if peace talks began now. You need war," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

In this regard, he drew attention to another point - it is the West that sends mercenaries to Ukraine to fight. There are already more than 20,000 of them. "How many people did Lukashenko send there? How many? Zero! And you are throwing blame at me. I do not send people there and I am not going to do it," the president said.