February 16, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka said he decided not to travel to Washington for the first meeting of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, scheduled for February 19, citing European restrictions on Belarusian air traffic.
“What was I supposed to do under these sanctions — fly to Washington via the South African Republic?” he asked during a meeting in Minsk today with Sergei Glazyev, state secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.
Footage of the meeting was published by a Telegram channel associated with his press office.
“If you wanted to see me there, you should have resolved the issue so that I could fly there and back comfortably,” he said.
Łukašenka added that he is not afraid of being arrested in the United States. “I can’t even imagine something like this happening to any other president or to me,” he said.
He also denied allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin had prevented him from traveling to Washington.
“I very much hope that we will participate in future events of this board at the presidential level. . . Perhaps not in Washington, but somewhere in Europe or the Middle East — perhaps in Israel, closer to here, or in Turkey — at other meetings of this board. . . We want peace. Above all, where our destiny lies — in Ukraine.”
Last week, Natalla Ejsmant, spokeswoman for the Belarusian leader, said that Łukašenka would not attend the meeting because the invitation had arrived too late.
“The president’s work schedule had already been planned for this period. Yes, we would be happy to visit the United States of America, but there are matters that cannot be delayed.”
She also mentioned Europe’s air traffic restrictions on Belarus, adding that Foreign Minister Maksim Ryžankoŭ would attend the event instead.
The Board of Peace was originally conceived as a mechanism to implement part of the Gaza ceasefire plan. However, Trump and his officials later suggested it would address a broader range of global issues, with the US president saying it has the potential to become “one of the most consequential bodies ever created.”
