Lukashenko: Putin firmly believes he is right; the main thing for him is the interests of Russian people
The interests of the Russian people are the most important for Russian President Vladimir Putin – as noted by President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko in an interview with British journalist, Russia Editor for BBC News Steve Rosenberg, on the side-lines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan
The journalist drew attention to the fact that the decision ‘to invade Ukraine had serious consequences for Russia’. Hence the clarifying question to the Belarusian leader, who is in close contact with Vladimir Putin: does the Russian President regret his decision?
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he had not discussed it with his colleague, adding that there are different situations in this conflict, especially recently, “Some are attacking, others are defending... Both sides are suffering heavy losses. Does Putin regret it or not? Of course, he regrets it. He is a living man. But I am absolutely convinced, and be sure of it: Putin firmly believes he is right, and he motivates it. We’ve discussed this a lot in our conversations. He invited you, the West, to negotiate. Remember, there were such proposals, completely ignored by the West. And now they are starting to talk about something, but I remind them that such proposals have been made. Westerners say that Putin suggested something by writing down some points on a piece of paper. I told them that they could have answered in the same form, and there would have been no conversations. Russia’s interests have been disregarded. Putin always says that the interests of Russia and the Russian people are the most important thing.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasises that the President of Russia is obliged to protect the interests of his people, and he protects these interests. As an ‘argument’ that Vladimir Putin made the wrong decision, the BBC journalist listed the mutiny of Yevgeny Prigozhin, drone attacks, and the ‘seizure’ of part of the Kursk Region.
The President of Belarus said that he did not want to answer for his colleague, but outlined Vladimir Putin’s position, “Would it be better for Russia if Ukraine joined NATO and NATO armed forces were stationed on the territory of Ukraine with missiles and a flight time of up to five minutes? Would it be better for Russia or not? Weighing everything, Putin chose this path, having regrets on certain issues. There have been failures, including those mentioned by you: drone attacks (who likes that?) and the seizure of part of Russia’s territory (nobody likes that, including Putin). But we are talking in general about the problem. Putin saw the great danger in the anti-Russian direction chosen by Ukraine and took certain actions.”
