Łukašenka says regrets Ukraine was not pacified in 2014-15

June 1, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka said that he regretted that “the situation in Ukraine” was not resolved in 2014-2015, when a ceasefire deal was being negotiated in Minsk.

“Perhaps our only mistake was that we did not resolve this issue in 2014-15, when Ukraine had no army nor preparedness . . . Everyone wanted to settle it peacefully somehow. Meanwhile, they were creating combat-ready armed forces,” he told security chiefs of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the Belarusian capital, as quoted by his press office.

Łukašenka blamed Ukraine’s former and current leaders for failing to take advantage of the opportunity for peace and accused the West of pushing them to war.

He said that the West was on the brink of revolution as public worries “why are we spending so heavily on Ukraine, on the massacre of people while life is getting worse and worse?” 

He also claimed that the West, especially the United States, wants a pause in the current fighting to hold elections. Łukašenka noted divergence between the United States and the European Union (EU), accusing the Americans of using the EU not only in the war in Ukraine, but also in confrontation with China.

Łukašenka urged the security chiefs to stay united and calm, and “influence politics inside the country, so that we will not break up.”

He praised agencies’ cooperation despite the war and sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

“In fact, we speak the same language, have a common economy and markets, production cooperation etc. It would take longer than the period of our life and the life of our children to create it all. Why do we need to dismantle it? Why do we need to dismantle our common market?”