Opinion: Ukraine’s political elites guided by illusory views
Kiev's unwillingness to negotiate with the Russian side on the end of the conflict can be explained by the illusory views guiding the current political elites of Ukraine – as stated by the Dean of the Journalism Department of the Belarusian State University, political expert Aleksei Belyaev, in his talk with Alfa Radio
On August 24th, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko congratulated the fraternal Ukrainian people on Independence Day, noting that many generations of Belarusians and Ukrainians have lived in harmony and respect for centuries.
“The congratulatory message of the Head of State is absolutely true in its words: Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians, no matter what opinions may exist, are peoples with the same root. These are the three nations that share the same historical origin. In any case, Kiev is the ‘mother’ of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian cities. It is the cradle of the Orthodox East Slavic or, conditionally, Russian civilisation (if to speak in the broadest sense). It is very sad that the current political elites of Ukraine have been dominated by illusory views. For some reason, they decided that they could shamelessly break and destroy the ties that had existed for thousands of years, also withdrawing from all agreements," Mr. Belyaev said.
According to the expert, such steps were dictated by the desire of the Ukrainian authorities to join another civilizational stream. “It's a delusion, since it will never happen. There have been numerous geopolitical games and attempts to partially or completely tear the Ukrainian lands away from the civilizational Orthodox Eastern world, but they have all ultimately failed. There will be no success this time as well. The Belarusian President does not rely on the wisdom of the modern Ukrainian political leaders, he is not addressing them: he congratulated not Zelenskyy as Head of State, but Ukrainians as the nation,” he stressed.
Mr. Belyaev added that Ukrainians face a very difficult situation now, “A fratricidal war is in full swing, and it is very sad that we have been pushed into this war. At least two of the three nations are very actively involved in this war. They began to hate each other on a mental level, wish death to each other. This is very bad overall for us. The Belarusian President says that peace is always possible, but something must be done for this – and Belarus is doing. As soon as the conflict began in 2022, Belarus was the first to come out with a proposal to arrange negotiations. It acted as a platform and held two rounds of negotiations. Even earlier, when there was a question of signing the Minsk agreements, Belarus spoke in that regard. It continues to constantly offer something.”
Meanwhile, as the expert noted, the Ukrainian authorities are not ready for negotiations. “Ukraine has adopted a law stating that no territorial concessions are possible. Differently speaking, it is impossible to agree on peace with the deprivation of the country of some territories. In fact, this means that the current Ukrainian Government is not ready for negotiations. Any talks always presuppose some kind of concessions," Mr. Belyaev concluded.
