Zelensky appeals to Belarusians: you decide who you will be, how you will look your neighbours in the eye

February 27, BPN. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a special video addess to Belarusians in the morning of February 27.

He said that it was impossible to negotiate with Russia in Minsk because of the involvement of the Belarusian side in the war of Russia against Ukraine.

Main points of the address:

-“You’re not on the same side as us in the war that’s going on right now. Russian troops are launching missiles at Ukraine from your territory. Our children are being killed from your territory. They are destroying our homes, trying to blow up everything that has been built over decades.”

-“You decide who you are. You decide who you want to be. How will you look your children in the eye? How will you look into each other’s eyes? How will you look your neighbours in the eye – and we are your neighbours. We are your neighbours. We, Ukrainians.”

– “Be Belarus, not Russia. You are making this choice right now, today.”

– “There is a lot of news now about possible negotiations between Ukraine and Russia that can end this war and return peace to all of us. These reports often mention your capital, Minsk, as a venue for these negotiations, as a venue that we did not choose. In fact, it wasn’t you who chose it, it was the Russian leadership who chose it. Four days ago, cruise missiles, airplanes, helicopters, and military vehicles came from the Belarusian territory. They hit our homes. They hit our lives.”

– “If there were no aggressive actions from your territory, we could talk in Minsk, your city. When you were neutral, we talked in Minsk. We have met many times… That is why we are saying now: not Minsk. Other cities can be a venue for a meeting. Of course, we want peace, we want to meet, we want the war to end. Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku – we offered all these venues to the Russian side. Any other city suits us. In a country that has no missiles flying from its territory.”

In July 2021, the government of Ukraine imposed sanctions against 52 people it considers involved in falsifying the results of the 2020 presidential election and the persecution of protesters in Belarus. Kyiv has not joined the economic sanctions of the West.