Lukashenko doubts Russia’s success and talks about the use of nuclear weapons

Alexander Lukashenko, the long-time president of Belarus, is one, if not Vladimir Putin’s, closest ally. When Russian troops invaded Ukraine at the end of February, they also did so from Belarusian territory. The war in the neighboring country has now lasted 71 days, a duration that Lukashenko apparently did not expect either. In one he said: “To be honest, I didn’t think the operation would drag on that much. But I’m not familiar enough with the problem to say if everything is going according to plan, as the Russians say.”

Capture of Kyiv aborted

Presumably, the invasion, which the Kremlin called a “special operation,” was to be ended shortly. However, due to numerous breakdowns, poor preparation and technical problems, the conquest of the capital Kyiv had to be called off. Russian attacks are now concentrated in the south and east of the country, but in the latter the troops are not making as much progress as Moscow had hoped. In unusually clear terms, Lukashenko calls for an end to the fighting, which, unlike Putin, he quite clearly calls a “war.”

“We categorically do not accept war. We have done and are doing everything to ensure that there is no war,” he said in the interview, claiming to have been the initiator of negotiations. “Thanks to yours truly, me, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have started.” Still: “Why is Ukraine, on whose territory the war is actually taking place – military actions, people are dying – why is Ukraine not interested in these negotiations?” he asked. So far, the regular meetings and talks between the warring parties have been sluggish.

Belarus becomes Moscow’s vassal state

Although Belarus is an independent state, it is being more and more absorbed by Russia. Financially as well as militarily. Lukashenko’s empire serves as a retreat and logistics base for military operations in Ukraine. Conservative and right-wing circles in Russia see the neighbor, like Ukraine, as a kind of Russian heartland. Most recently, however, there were also acts of sabotage against railway systems in the “last dictatorship in Europe”, presumably in protest against complicity with Russia.

President Lukashenko also spoke about the atomic bomb and with an interesting twist: “The use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable because it would be close to us. We are here. We are not behind an ocean like the USA, which is also why it is unacceptable.” It remained unclear whether, conversely, this meant that he would have nothing against the dropping of nuclear weapons, as long as it happened far away from Belarus.

As far as the distribution of roles in this war is concerned, Lukashenko fully agrees with Moscow: Ukraine and the USA are to blame for the “special operation”. In March he claimed that Ukraine wanted to attack Belarus, but the Russian attack thwarted this. He did not present any evidence of this. Now he said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a recipient of orders from the United States.

Only Biden can end the Ukraine war

Although Russia has attacked Ukraine, the Minsk head of government sees the United States as the real warmonger: US President Joe Biden is the only one who can end the war. If Biden wanted it, “everything could stop within a week,” said Lukashenko. “The United States wants to seize the moment, tie its allies to it and drown Russia in the war with Ukraine. That’s their goal – weed out Russia, and then China.” According to his logic, it would also be the responsibility of the USA and NATO to ensure that the conflict does not spread to the western military alliance. “Putin almost certainly doesn’t want a confrontation with NATO.” But it is up to the West that this does not happen. Otherwise, and if Putin doesn’t want it, the military will have to react.

Sources: AP, DPA, AFP