President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko proposed holding Russian-Ukrainian talks in Minsk, BelTA reported.
“We are Slavs, three Slavic peoples. Let’s sit down and decide our fate for the future, forever,” Lukashenka said.
According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin is really not going to occupy Ukraine. “Why, who needs this headache,” Lukashenka stressed. He called this situation the basis for negotiations and proposed to develop an agenda and solutions.
Lukashenka noted that Russia would sit down at the negotiating table with Ukraine only after the issues of security guarantees were agreed. “In order to prevent this[bloodshed in Ukraine. — BELTA’s note]and stop the escalation, you need to sit down at the negotiating table, but Russia will never sit down with them at the negotiating table if you do not first agree on the issues to be discussed. Russia prescribed them for NATO, and for America, and for Ukraine as well,” he recalled.
The President said that Russia demanded that Ukraine not join NATO and cease military operations in the Donbass. In his opinion, drafts of specific decisions should be prepared, which may be stricter in relation to Ukraine.
On the morning of February 24, Russia launched a military operation in the Donbass. According to Putin, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), whose sovereignty Russia recognized on February 21, asked for help. According to the head of state, Russia is not going to occupy Ukraine, but will strive “to demilitarize and denazify” this country. The President of Ukraine announced that the country is breaking off diplomatic relations with Russia amid a military operation.