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Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said he was ready to host the leaders of the United States, Ukraine and Russia in Minsk for peace talks to end the war. He said this in an interview with American blogger Mario Naufal on 4 March.
“Come, we’ll sit down here, calmly, without noise, without shouting, and we’ll come to an agreement. Tell Trump that I am waiting for him here, along with Putin and Zelensky,” Lukashenka said.
At the same time, he stressed that he did not seek to mediate in the settlement of the war between Russia and Ukraine, explaining that he did not see any sense in this for Belarus.
“What I hate most is mediation. It means being between someone and pretending that you can do something. Especially between the US and Russia or the US and China. Such mediation requires a powerful resource,” Lukashenka said.
Despite his declared readiness to provide a platform for negotiations, Lukashenka stressed that Minsk does not plan to send Belarusian peacekeepers to the frontline between Ukraine and Russia, although he believes that they could ensure interaction between the parties.
Lukashenko also added that there was no need to put pressure on Ukraine:
“We shouldn’t bend Zelensky now, no matter who he is. We need to convince him, to negotiate, because the majority of Ukrainian society is behind him. So we need to negotiate.”
So far, neither side has officially commented on Lukashenko’s initiative, but the call for a meeting has already resonated with the international media amid a pause in the actual peace talks.
