Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Volodymyr Zelensky did everything to further inflame the war in Ukraine.
"He inflames this conflict to an incredible extent. He made mistakes, but he was also incited to do this," BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying in an interview with American blogger Mario Naufal.
Lukashenko added that Zelensky's policy has led to the impoverishment of the people of his country and the destruction of this state.
"Putin wanted to reach an agreement on Ukraine so that Russians would not be killed there and the Russian language would not be suppressed. I know him well – did not think that this would lead to such a war. Otherwise, he would not have gone to negotiations. When he saw that a huge number of people were dying, Putin immediately went to negotiations to stop the conflict, to reach an agreement,“ he said.
“To reach an agreement on NATO, and on demilitarization, and on denazification, as he said“, Lukashenko continued “On not killing Russians, not suppressing the Russian language in Ukraine. All this was on the agenda“.
The United States should negotiate mineral extraction deals with Russia, not with Ukraine, the Belarusian leader believes.
“You are now arguing with Ukraine about rare earth metals and so on. Listen, Russia is in first place. There are a lot of these rare earth materials in a more accessible form. Cooperate with Russia – "you will get a colossal effect from this. So why are you trying to enter Ukraine through the window? The doors are open in Russia, cooperate," Lukashenko told the American blogger.
The strongman in Minsk believes that Vladimir Zelensky will lose the elections in Ukraine if they are held.
"His rating is 14-17%, he will lose these elections".
Lukashenko added that the US showed Zelensky his place during a meeting with President Donald Trump. “It is in our favor that you showed Zelensky his place, he should have known about it. But if we speak sincerely, honestly and objectively, your position here is not strong. Zelensky is not going anywhere, but the whole world is now looking to the United States,“ he said.
Lukashenko announced Minsk's readiness to organize talks between the presidents of Russia, the United States and Ukraine.
„Now we don't need to bend Zelensky, no matter who he is. We need to convince and come to an agreement with him, because a large part of Ukrainian society is behind Zelensky. That's why we need to come to an agreement. If you want, come. It's close here - 200 km from the Belarusian border to Kiev. Come. We'll sit here. Calmly, without noise, without shouting, we'll come to an agreement. So tell Trump: I am waiting for him here, together with Putin and Zelensky, we will sit down and calmly come to an agreement“, Lukashenko said in an interview with American blogger Mario Naufal.
The Belarusian president believes that Trump is a more independent president than his predecessor Joe Biden.
"Even if it is wrong, he will make a decision. Biden himself has not made a decision. They told him: don't call, he did not call. They told him: call Putin a dictator, he called him a dictator", Lukashenko said.
He expressed the opinion that during Biden's term, representatives of the military industry actively lobbied for their interests. “And Biden, due to his character and physical condition, could not resist, as Trump does. That's the whole problem," Lukashenko concluded.
Lukashenko "positively assesses the steps" taken by the current US administration to resolve military conflicts.
"They are great. And Trump is great that he often speaks and does something in the direction of ending the war in Ukraine, ending the war in the Middle East. This is worth a lot in foreign policy. It seems to me that he has no other policy than to end the war. A brilliant idea."
According to Lukashenko, "no one could have imagined" that changes could occur so quickly in relations between the US and the rest of the world, including between the US and Russia. "But one person who took the risk to do this - Donald Trump - very quickly turned the situation upside down. Let's hope so," the Belarusian president said.
Trump's desire to end wars and conflicts in the world is brilliant, Lukashenko noted.
“The fact that you /b.r. USA/ announced the normalization of relations in the Gaza Strip in the Middle East, that you want to stop wars and conflicts. Trump said: “I don't want to send my people anywhere outside to change regimes“. Great, the whole world dreams of this“, the Belarusian leader believes.