Peace is always much better than war

We must stop, come to an agreement, end this operation and the war in Ukraine. No need to go any further. Because further is a nuclear abyss. This was stated by the President of Belarus in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP). The interviewer was Deputy Bureau Chief and News Editor for the former Soviet Union at AFP, Moscow News Editor Antoine Lambroschini.

Photo by BELTA

The Head of State made a number of comments about topical items on the international agenda and about the situation in the country. During the interview the Head of State answered questions about when the conflict in Ukraine will end, how the conflict could have been avoided, and what role Belarus plays in Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. 
Aleksandr Lukashenko was asked about the difference between a dictatorship and the policy pursued in Belarus. 
Aleksandr Lukashenko responded that the Constitution gives the President great powers in Belarus. Moreover, all versions of the country’s fundamental law were adopted by referendum, and many articles were modelled on the legislative practices of France, Russia, Kazakhstan, “In other words, we did not create anything unique and exceptional, we adopted the experience of other countries… Now everyone is talking about hunger. I agree that we are very close to that point. Many are starving already. You could say, ‘Not critical yet’. How is it not? A child dies every 10 seconds in the world. Not a famine yet? It is. It’s going to get worse. I am closely monitoring the harvesting campaign and ask a lot from farmers and the whole country. We must crop everything. We need to mobilise. Famine will bring about dictatorship, including in France. Because we need to save people. Not to feed, but to save them from dying.”
According to him, such strict requirements from the Head of State can be regarded as a dictatorship, but in this case they are justified by an important goal — to improve people’s lives, to prevent critical situations. 
The President emphasised, 

“It is true, we have a more centralised system of government. I might even describe it as ‘authoritarian’. Yet, it is by no means a dictatorship. In order to dictate terms, you need to have certain leverage and resources. What resources does Belarus have to tell France, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia what to do?”

In his opinion, only the United States can probably dictate terms today, “They have everything for this: power, population, territory and a money printing machine. Even France cannot be a dictatorship, although it is a nuclear power.”
Asked for how long he intends to remain the President, Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed it was up to the Belarusian people to decide, “I could have quit a long time ago if a certain situation had existed in the country and abroad. But since 2020 many of those, who took to the streets, as you say, have come to their senses and understand now what could have happened. They say: ‘We didn’t act right. What would have happened if he [Aleksandr Lukashenko] had not been around?’ That’s what people say. Trust me, I know the mood of the people.”
The President added, 

“What would have happened if I had abandoned everything and quit in 2020? The country would be totally different right now, and you would interview other people. And the policy would be different. Things would be worse in Belarus than they are in Ukraine now.”

“There are plenty of foreign military personnel in Europe, including in France. You shouldn’t even ask me this question. You have dozens of thousands of them,” countered Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The Head of State drew attention to the fact that the presence of Russian troops in Belarus is not something extraordinary, “They have always been here as many as we needed. Not a single Russian military specialist has come here without my invitation or permission. This is why all of them are staying here with my consent.”
The Head of State remarked that amid the sanctions introduced by the European Union against Russia the dependence of EU countries on Russian energy resources became obvious. In such a situation rebukes saying Belarus is somehow dependent on Russian funding or supplies of energy resources look inappropriate, the President believes, “We’ve always received natural gas and oil from them. There were no other sources. We tried other sources, but they turned out to be very expensive, twice as expensive.”
The incident with the Ryanair flight, which became the reason for imposing sanctions against Belarus, was mentioned during the conversation. 

“It is falsification. What right does ICAO have to introduce sanctions? What right does France have? The right belongs to the United Nations Organisation. But the UN has not even recommended it,” said the President concerning the recent The International Civil Aviation Organisation’s report.

He pointed out that European countries introduced sanctions to close airspace for Belarus even before any documents or reports were published. Meanwhile, a much more serious incident involving an Indonesian aircraft, which was shot down in Ukrainian sky, is still being investigated. 
Almost half of the interview was devoted to the situation in Ukraine. 
“You created it, this crisis. This artificial crisis was created by you. I can prove it 100 percent with facts: you triggered and continue this war,” highlighted Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Answering the French journalist’s question about the role of Belarus in the events taking place in Ukraine, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the role is ‘huge’.

“It is peacekeeping, first and foremost. As soon as this conflict broke out, having a general idea of what was happening and what was going to happen, I kept calling Zelenskyy all day and asking him: ‘Volodya, please sit down at the negotiating table. It is not to your detriment. Talk to each other. Any peace is better than a good war’,” the Head of State said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that after that Belarus hosted several rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. But the West — primarily the United States and Great Britain — did not let Ukraine continue them, the President said.
He reminded that the Minsk agreements were signed in the Belarusian capital city in 2015 after lengthy talks of the Normandy Four — kind of peace treaty, “If Ukrainian authorities had executed this agreement, there would be no war today. And Donbass and Lugansk could possibly be part of Ukraine already. And I am convinced they would be.”
In his words, the West artificially inflated tensions around the Russian-Ukrainian conflict all these years. To start a war against Russia from Ukraine’s territory was the goal. reminded that before the launch of the special military operation Russia had repeatedly contacted the West with a request to provide security guarantees and make promises, 

“Why didn’t you provide such guarantees?.. It means you, NATO countries, Americans wanted this war. And if Putin had not launched this operation, you would have started the war but after getting organised. He was simply slightly ahead of you. It is the stance of Russia and Belarus.”

Neither Belarusian hardware nor manpower is used in Ukraine’s conflict, the Head of State noted. The Head of State admitted that strikes on Ukrainian military facilities were carried out from the Belarusian territory, but this was done for preventive purposes, “Why did they deploy four divisions on the border? Why did they target us? Are you saying that I had to sit and wait until missiles began to fall on the heads of Belarusian people? Russia has pre-empted you, and I support it in this. If Russia’s military had missed that point, it would have been forced to face a massive blow from NATO, not from Ukraine. Now it is not Ukraine that is fighting. Now you are fighting there, with your mercenaries and your weapons.” 
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that Belarus is involved in the Russian operation, but its role is to protect the rear, that’s it. 
The President explained that Russia has not yet used its most powerful weapon in Ukraine, and it is not even about nuclear potential, “I saw this weapon, I am in the know. Therefore, it is not yet the kind of war that could be from Russia.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko admitted that he dreamed of creating a pan-Slavic state or a union of countries. This was said in response to the journalist’s suggestion that Russian President Vladimir Putin is dreaming of the same thing.
“It was I who had a dream of a Slavic state. Once they promoted this idea of the Russian world. Since the 1990s, I have always drawn attention that there are Slavic states. Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and others... We should not lose this connection. Indeed, everyone has their own state. But we are Slavs. I’ve talked about that. Putin did not talk or dream of any pan-Slavic state. You have made this up,” the Head of State said.
The President was asked about declared plans to deliver Russian missile systems Iskander to Belarus and refit aircraft with the ability to carry nuclear weapons.
The President remarked, “We have such aircraft. We just need to refit them so that they could carry nuclear weapons. In response to what Americans are doing. They train Germans and other countries. They have prepared aircraft and are training them.” 
Asked whether he would like Russian nuclear weapons to be deployed in Belarus, 
Aleksandr Lukashenko said, 

“It is enough for us that Russia has nuclear weapons. If need be, Russia will defend Belarus like its own territory according to the treaty… God forbid of course we don’t want that to happen. Because it will be the end… I am absolutely opposed to nuclear weapons. They must be completely destroyed around the world. And the world will become a safer place then. Today, in addition to nuclear weapons, there are also biological weapons (you see what is happening), cyber weapons. You know, this is even worse than nuclear weapons. Therefore, we [Belarus] do not need nuclear weapons.”

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by