‘Together we are a formidable force. And we will never be defeated!’

President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko paid a working visit to Volgograd, the Russian Federation

The President of Belarus, together with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, laid flowers at the historical memorial complex — To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad — on Mamayev Kurgan. Then Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin took part in the Great Heritage — Common Future international forum of the Union State.

BELTA

‘We are the heroic winners’ heirs, this status entails huge obligations’

The status of the heirs of the great generation of victorious heroes entails huge obligations, but there are also the ones who view it as irritating — as stated by Aleksandr Lukashenko at the forum.
The forum was held in Volgograd (known as Stalingrad until 1961) — a city that had become an impregnable fortress for the invaders in their way. From here, the countdown to the victorious May 1945 began, and a turning point of the war happened here: the victory became assured and the enemy could change nothing. There was only one way: to Berlin.
As noted by the Belarusian leader, this meeting is not just a tribute to the common heroic past. 

“We are turning to history to protect not only the future, but also the present — and that’s how the issue stands today,” he stressed. “We are the heirs of the great generation of heroic winners, and we have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide. This status entails huge obligations, but it is also irritating for many. We are opposed by the descendants of the Third Reich supporters who lost then, and we are increasingly often talking about that now.”

According to the Head of State, it was Stalingrad that faced an unprecedented assault, and that fight lasted for 200 days. “There were thousands of killed heroes. Everyone — including generals and soldiers — understood that the fate of humanity and the course of world history were being decided here,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated, adding that — if they had wavered and the enemy had gained access to oil reserves — the victory in the war would have become unattainable. “There was no talk about retreat. The Battle of Kursk would not have happened, and the fate of Moscow would have been decided next,” the President added. “That’s why everyone held their ground to the death here. That’s why they fought to the death on the Volga River — just like in the Brest Fortress.”
The Belarusian leader noted that Vladimir Putin had been right in choosing Volgograd as the venue for the forum, “This is a very correct place, this is the best location to discuss the problems we face, the ones that our descendants are imposing on us.”
Continuing the conversation about the wartime events, the Head of State quoted General Vasily Chuikov who commanded the 62nd Army, “We, the living participants in the battles for Stalingrad, testify that our soldiers here knew no fear in firefights, did not retreat in the face of death, and their determination to win was such that even the dead held arms in their hands.”
“I would like to repeat: even the dead held arms in their hands — and no more words are needed. We are all bowing to the heroes who managed to withstand a deadly assault, stand upright and force the enraged enemy to retreat back to Berlin,” the President stated. 

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‘Protection of historical memory: further work needed, with no relax’

The Head of State drew special attention to the need to preserve historical truth and work with the younger generation. He noted that the forum had actually brought together people who do not need to be convinced of anything.
“The generation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and mine has grown up, listening to the stories of war veterans, parents and those who survived the occupation. I think you would agree that it is harder in this regard with the generation that was born and grew up in the 1990s. The worldview of the ‘perestroika’ children was formed at the peak of revanchist propaganda,” the President said. “A lot was done to discredit the Red Army, the partisan and resistance movement on our land, to whitewash the Nazi criminals. Not everyone got captured by those views, actually, but some fell under their influence.” 
Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced: appropriate conclusions should be drawn from that, and work with young people should be strengthened. 

“More needs to be done to protect historical memory. We should never get relaxed. There should be no trust in repentance, only real actions can be accepted. This is extremely topical — not just for the President [of Russia] and me today, when we are promised a lot (maybe not everyone knows everything yet, but you will learn soon). As the Russian President said, they will do nothing, as usual, and I can quote him as saying: ‘They will deceive us once again’. 

Therefore, only real actions and facts are accepted — yours submitted to us, and ours — to you. This is what you have taught us. It is not our formula for relationships, it is a lesson you have taught us. If you want it that way, then you are welcome: we can act this way as well. Figures and facts are very important, but emotions and meanings — as well as military chronicle footage, with no censorship — are even of greater importance.”
In this regard, the President voiced a possibly unpopular opinion: it is not the time to talk about the traumatised psyche of children who may see terrible photos and videos in the media. Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke positively about the Russian side’s practice of showing various photo and video materials about the war, adding that Belarusians need to work more in this direction, including in archives.

Who opened real second front and when?

The Head of State noted that during WWII, assistance was also provided by the allies, but important aspects should not be overlooked. “Let’s be honest: the allies joined us when our soldiers had already broken the back of the fascist beast,” the President said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that thousands of people from all over the Soviet Union, including Belarus, defended Stalingrad. The President mentioned a number of names of pilots, tankmen, gunners, and infantrymen who received the Hero of the Soviet Union title, and also mentioned Konstantin Rokossovsky, who commanded the Don River Front and was one of the Victory Marshals.
The name of Belarusian Aleksei Vashchenko, who closed the embrasure of an enemy bunker with his body and thus entered the history of the city’s defence, was also mentioned. One of the streets of Volgograd bears his name.
“Thank you for remembering,” the President of Belarus said to the Russian side. “The memory of numerous heroes of liberation, including Belarusians, is preserved by the Hall of Military Glory on Mamayev Kurgan. They are our common heroes. Therefore, the Mound of Glory near Minsk preserves land from different parts of the Soviet Union, where the fiercest battles took place. We cherish a piece of Stalingrad in the very centre of our capital, in Pobedy [Victory] Square. Bricks from the legendary Pavlov’s House were laid in the foundation of one of the buildings on Nezavisimosti Avenue. These are sacred relics for us.”
The President stressed that Belarus knows and remembers that the victory at Stalingrad was won by the entire Soviet people, by all those who worked for the needs of the Red Army in the deep rear, drawing the enemy’s attention to themselves and undermining the military potential of the Wehrmacht from within.
“It was there, behind enemy lines, that a real second front was opened. Not by the Americans or the French. And it was in response to the monstrous crimes of Nazism,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

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Nazism in Europe must not rise again

It was on the land of Stalingrad that the beginning of the end of Nazism in Europe was laid during the Second World War. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Heritage — Common Future international patriotic forum as part of plenary session of the Union State in Volgograd.
Vladimir Putin highlighted that it was on the land of Stalingrad that the beginning of the end of Nazism in Europe was laid during the Second World War. “We have no right to allow this [the resurgence of Nazism] to happen again in the future. That is why we are here,” emphasised the Head of the Russian State.

“We all know the immensely dear price that our peoples paid for victory over Nazism, the colossal sacrifices that were made for it. There is no doubt that in Russia, and in Belarus, as well as in other countries, the lessons of this war will always be remembered. The main one is obvious: we must do everything to resist the resurgence of Nazism, the spread of destructive ideologies of Russophobia, anti-Semitism, any forms of racism, national or religious intolerance, the so-called exceptionalism,” said Vladimir Putin.

He stressed that underlying all this are claims to global dominance, attempts to exert pressure or interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states. “Of course, it is important to jointly forge a more just, multipolar world order based on the principles of respecting each other’s interests and the right of everyone to their own model of development. It is on this basis that Russia is developing partnerships with Belarus and with all other countries participating in the forum,” the Russian leader stated.
“We are convinced that the global community needs to work together to create a new architecture of equal and indivisible security that would reliably protect all states. Not to the detriment of the interests of others. This issue is particularly relevant for Eurasia. Our common continent must become a space of peace and stability, an example of sustainable economic, social and humanitarian development,” the Russian leader underscored.
The Russian President believes that the foundation for creating such security architecture exists. According to him, it could be based on the existing multilateral forms of co-operation: the Union State, the CSTO, the CIS, the SCO, BRICS, ASEAN and other authoritative and influential structures.

Belarus, Russia should have even closer relations in common Fatherland than in unitary state

Later during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko said that Belarus and Russia should build closer relations in the Union State than in a unitary state.
The Head of State warmly thanked his Russian counterpart for inviting him to Volgograd, which he described as a very impressive place that cannot be visited without trembling. The Belarusian leader noted that the two leaders’ views coincided, “Our idea is exactly the same: one Fatherland from Brest to Vladivostok. It happened that two states were formed here, and we must do everything to ensure that our relations in this Fatherland are even closer than in a unitary state.”
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, a lot has already been done in this regard. “I am sure that our children and other generations will appreciate what we are doing here. It’s not easy for us: we are ‘bombarded’ from the left and the right. And all our decisions are aimed at the unity of our peoples,” he added.
According to Vladimir Putin, the results of trade and economic co-operation between Russia and Belarus are outstanding. “We have the opportunity to discuss current affairs, and we have a lot of them. Suffice it to say that in the field of trade and economic relations alone, our results are simply outstanding — over $50 billion in trade turnover. According to your statistics, even a little more,” the Russian leader said.
Putin also stated the need to discuss the further development and expansion of industrial co-operation between the two countries, including through joint work in the field of aircraft construction and the creation of unmanned aerial vehicles. “I want to tell you what proposals we have. We are ready to establish a plant together with your specialists, and a corresponding laboratory for unmanned systems. This is very important primarily for the economy and logistics. We have agreements on aircraft construction. You have managed to preserve part of the aviation industry, and there is also something to work on here — on both small and medium-range aircraft. We will also talk about other areas. The governments are constantly working on these issues, and we are aware of what our colleagues are agreeing on,” Vladimir Putin noted.
Aleksandr Lukashenko agreed that a good tradition had developed to discuss relevant issues, both to spur governments in their work and to set some kind of trend in bilateral relations, as well as to facilitate the resolution of certain issues. “Thank you for the fact that we often call each other, discussing urgent issues. We really have a common understanding of the entire development process, and our agenda for international relations is absolutely similar. We do not hide it, nor twist or turn it,” the Belarusian leader added.

The meeting of the two leaders then continued in a one-on-one format without the presence of journalists. According to the Pul Pervogo Telegram channel, Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin communicated tête-à-tête for exactly four hours.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by