June 19, Pozirk. Belarus’ permanent representative to the OSCE, Andrej Dapkiunas, delivered a tirade at the organization’s conference in Vienna, lamenting the West’s calls for a “just peace” in Ukraine, mocking “fantasies” about Russia’s defeat and invoking the risks of a conflict with a “nuclear superpower.”
Speaking at the Annual Security Review Conference on June 18, Dapkiunas described “just peace” as “empty, meaningless words,” noting that this precondition “kills the possibility” of a peaceful settlement.
He also ruled out Russia’s defeat in its war against Ukraine.
“We are sad to hear about your futile hopes for the exhaustion and defeat of Russia, to hear absurd fantasies about reparations and tribunals,” Dapkiunas said. “Do you seriously believe in the reality of victory in a proxy war against a nuclear superpower? You are simply playing with matches around a barrel of gasoline.”
Dapkiunas urged his “esteemed Western colleagues” to “give serious thought” to the dangers of “a military conflict involving nuclear states,” which he said may “become inevitable” if the West continues to pursue a “thoughtless war of attrition.”
Belarus supports Russia in the full-scale war against Ukraine unleashed by Moscow in February 2022.
