He expressed his desire that the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations be completed in the hall where the Minsk agreements on Ukraine were signed
Minsk. March 19. INTERFAX - President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that he did everything in his power to prevent an armed conflict in Ukraine.
"(...) I did everything to ensure that there was no war and there was peace. I was even ready to close the border between Donbass and Russia," Lukashenko said in an interview with the Japanese TV channel TBS, published on Saturday by the Belarus-1 TV channel.
"You know, 400 kilometers - I was ready to close this border with my border guards and provide other assistance to Ukraine. And Russia agreed with this. And Ukraine refused. Why? Because the West pushed them to this war," the President of Belarus continued.
At the same time, he noted that Ukraine imposed sanctions against Minsk earlier than the West did, and Belarus was blocked from flying through Ukraine.
"They were preparing militants against us on the territory of Ukraine. They are still being prepared. They supplied explosives and weapons for terrorist groups here. We have neutralized them. Everyone knows about it. That is, Ukraine has taken a hostile position against Belarus. Tell me, how should we have behaved in this situation?" - the President of Belarus asked a rhetorical question.
He expressed his conviction that Belarusians will not fight with Ukrainians, and the conflict in Ukraine, in his opinion, will end in the near future.
"I am practically convinced that we will not have to fight with Ukraine. The West will not be able to drag us into this conflict. We have enough intelligence not to get involved in this conflict, as the Americans and their partners are pushing for this conflict today. I am convinced that this conflict will end in peace in the near future," Lukashenko said.
According to him, Belarus will have to respond by military means only in case of provocations from Kiev.
"If only Ukraine continues to escalate against Belarus, we will respond. At the time of the conflict on the 23rd-24th (February - IF) they were planning to strike Belarus, I talked about it. From four points. We prevented it. They are violating our border. Moreover, in the last week they launched at least two Tochka U missiles on the territory of Belarus. Fortunately, we managed to shoot them down. If they provoke us constantly, we will have to answer," Lukashenko said.
"Not a single Belarusian soldier is fighting in Ukraine, despite their hostile position they have taken towards Belarus. We have turned this page. I called Zelensky and offered to immediately enter into negotiations with Russia. Literally on the 3rd or 4th day of this war. And he accepted the offer. We have organized three rounds of negotiations here in Belarus. And now these negotiations in the videoconference mode are continuing, they are going on," the President of Belarus stated.
"That is, we are not attacking Ukraine, we are not bombing Ukraine. We are supporters of negotiations. We want these negotiations to be completed in this Hall. It is symbolic that the Minsk Agreements on Ukraine were signed in this hall. We are supporters of negotiations, we want there to be peace. If there is no peace there, then there will be no peace in Belarus. Over time. This is our position," the Belarusian president said.
At the same time, he stressed that Belarus and Russia are not just allies, they are "practically one whole."
"Russia is not just our ally, Russians and we are peoples growing from the same root. Firstly, and secondly, there are practically no economically separated systems. We are so seriously embedded in the Russian production system, and Russia in the Belarusian system, that the rupture of cooperative ties will lead to a catastrophe in the economy," Lukashenko said.
