THE conflict in Ukraine began years ago, and the only mistake that Belarus and Russia made was not resolving the issue sooner.
This is what Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus said during a recent meeting of Commonwealth of Independent States or C.I.S security chiefs.
According to Lukashenko, the conflict in Ukraine started even before the 2014 Maidan Revolution.
“I absolutely agree with President Putin when he says that we did not start this war. It didn’t even start in 2014. It started well before 2014. We saw everything that happened here: the ‘brown’ coup that took place, and what Ukraine has been led into.”
“Everything was leading up to this. Probably the only mistake we made was that we did not resolve this issue in 2014-2015, when Ukraine had neither an army nor resolve,” Pres. Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus said.
Lukashenko believes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his predecessors, Petro Poroshenko and Viktor Yanukovich did nothing effective to secure a peaceful existence for their citizens, alleging that they did not want a war, however, they were apparently being pushed into it.
Meanwhile, Lukashenko claimed that a violent regime change is being prepared in his country, accusing Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine of training illegal members of armed groups that intend to create what he described as sleeping extremist cells in Belarus.
According to Lukashenko, Belarusian citizens opposed to his government are fighting for Ukraine and are gaining combat experience in the said country.
He also accused the West of urging the country’s opposition to engage in acts of armed violence and funding such acts.
The Belarusian president called for greater security cooperation among C.I.S member states and warned that they may encounter similar events in the future.
