Ukraine offered Belarusians “nonaggression pact” in spite of arming opposition – Russia’s Lavrov

February 2, BPN. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Alaksandr Łukašenka sees “absolute nonsense” and “outright provocation” in Kyiv’s alleged proposal that Ukraine and Belarus sign a “nonaggression pact.”

“Belarusians were offered to sign a non-aggression pact at the very moment Belarusian opposition was being nurtured, armed and allowed to receive combat training at the frontline against Russia, including in the notorious Kastuś Kalinoŭski battalion or regiment that openly declares its preparations and support for solving similar tasks in Belarus,” Lavrov told Russian state-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya.

He added that Kyiv’s suggestion was “funny and demonstrated Ukrainian authorities’ wishful thinking.”

On January 24, Alaksandr Łukašenka said Ukrainian authorities offered Belarus to conclude a non-aggression pact. “On the one hand, they ask us not to go to war with Ukraine and not to move our troops there. They also suggest signing a non-aggression pact. On the other hand, they are preparing this rattlesnake mixture and are arming them [militants],” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented by saying: “Everything that Ukraine officially offers, you hear. We are not going to attack Belarus, and have never intended to. That is the main signal from all the Ukrainian people to the Belarusian people.”