Belarus President: Putin never set out to conquer Ukraine
Belarus President Lukashenko said that Putin never had a mission to conquer Ukraine.
According to RIA Novosti on October 25, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with Izvestia that Russian President Vladimir Putin never had the mission to conquer Ukraine.
“Yes, today you can conquer something, but what about tomorrow? Maybe we conquered Ukraine, and then what? You have to keep moving forward. A smart, wise politician should think, ‘So what?’. The president used to say this: he never had to face the task of conquest,” said Belarusian President Lukashenko.
According to Mr. Lukashenko, he often discusses Ukrainian issues with his Russian counterpart.
“We often discuss this issue, we always ask the question ‘What to do next?’ – the Belarusian leader said.
The world has changed, he stressed. Therefore, according to Mr. Lukashenko, “there is no need to set stupid goals for ourselves and we should think about what will happen next.”
Answering the question of Belarus joining the Russian Federation, which has never been raised, President Lukashenko said: “Belarus and Russia have a common homeland: from Brest to Vladivostok. We have been used to this for decades, centuries. But there is no merger, there are two sovereign states. Belarus and Russia are vast. This is an unchangeable law in our time.”
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin called its goal “to protect those who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.” Putin noted that the special operation was a forced measure, Russia “had no other option, the security risk created was such that it was impossible to respond with other measures.”
According to Mr. Putin, Russia has been trying for 30 years to reach an agreement with NATO on security principles in Europe, but in response it has faced deception or attempts at pressure and sanctions from the alliance. Meanwhile, despite Moscow's objections, NATO is gradually expanding and approaching Russia's borders.
