German chancellor: Putin does not see Belarus, Ukraine as independent states

August 22, BPN. Before the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that “Belarus and Ukraine should not be independent states,” German daily Die Welt reported, citing the chancellor.

According to Scholz, Putin attacked Ukraine for “completely absurd” reasons. German chancellor noted that he had assured Putin before the war that NATO had never posed a threat to Russia and that Ukraine would not join the bloc in the next 30 years.

“This is a war that Putin, Russia, started, clearly with the intention of conquering its neighboring country. I think that was the original goal,” Scholz said.

On February 24, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Authorities in Minsk deny Belarusian army troops’ involvement in combat operations on the Russian side. However, Belarus allowed Russian troops and weapons to move freely through the country, use its airspace, refuel and store military equipment and attack Ukraine from its territory.

A 20,000-strong grouping of Russian forces crossed into Ukraine from Belarus at the outset of the war, Alaksandr Łukašenka told AFP in an interview on July 21.