Updated at 17:53,27-03-2024

Lukashenko condemns Merkel's recent statements on Minsk agreements


Lukashenko condemns Merkel's recent statements on Minsk agreements
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was petty and vile in her recent statements about the peace talks in Minsk and the Minsk agreements concluded a few years ago to resolve the situation in Ukraine, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in Bishkek answering journalists' questions, BelTA has learned.

In a nutshell, Merkel said that at that time she considered the Minsk agreements as an opportunity to give Kiev time to build up its power and military resources.

“I told Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] what I thought about it. If things were really like that, it is disgusting. But they were not like that. The real situation is not just disgusting, it is abominable. Merkel... I didn't expect it either. And the president of Russia said the same: he didn't expect such an attack from Angela Merkel. She acted in petty, obnoxious way. She wants to be in trend. Back then Merkel, like others, including Poroshenko, was very serious about the Minsk agreements. Indeed, after the Minsk meetings, the whole world was saying that finally this step was made and these agreements were signed. The war stopped, people stopped dying. All this was positively assessed,” said the president.

Aleksandr Lukashenko is sure that it is not as simple as it sounds now in the statements by Angela Merkel and Petro Poroshenko: “Today, at the background of the ongoing developments they are saying that she, Poroshenko, this Hollande [France's former president François Hollande] whom she led by the hand in front of me allegedly carried out a secret operation, deceived everyone, primarily Russia, Putin, and everyone in the world; they got a pause that let the Ukrainian army prepare for this war ... If this were so, it would be too easy. They cheated, prepared for the war and are fighting now. Well, if this is so (this is not so), why then rant and rave now about the war going on? You got what you were preparing for.”

According to the president, the war on Russia was supposed to begin from the Donbass in 2021-2022. “We know for sure (I informed President Putin that we will make these facts public soon) that they were going to advance NATO troops to the border of Smolensk Oblast after the 2020 coup in Belarus and start a war against Russia from the Donbass,” the Belarusian leader said.

According to him, the war was supposed to begin under the pretext of Russia's seizing of foreign territories. “From there, the war was supposed to start in 2021, maybe 2022. Russia foiled their plans and acted preemptively. Therefore, Russia does not deserve the accusations. We all read the statements by Poroshenko, Merkel [former leaders of Ukraine and Germany]. They are lying that it was Russia who started the war,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “They - Merkel and Poroshenko - want to show their importance. They want to say that the Ukrainian army is fighting, resisting one of the strongest armies in the world because they had deceived everyone, the whole world and Russia in Minsk. It is petty and deplorable. It doesn't look like Merkel. It is not true that they did this in order to cheat. Everything was serious,” he noted.

The president believes that had the Minsk agreements been implemented, Ukraine would have been integral and there would have been no war. “Back then it was possible. By today, if they had gone the way that Putin proposed, and an agreement had been signed, Ukraine would have retained its integrity with the exception of Crimea. There would have been no war,” the Belarusian leader stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that at that time he forwarded information, wishes and demands from President of Russia Vladimir Putin to the then leader of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and vice versa. “I once said that the last message that Putin conveyed to Poroshenko was the offer to help restore what was destroyed. And the destruction was minimal. But they did not agree to this. They were preparing for war,” the head of state said.

“If they cheated in order to prepare for war, this is disgusting. And what Merkel is saying today, echoing Poroshenko [Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko] is disgusting. This is a kind of trend. And they are trying to follow it. Secondly, Merkel does not want to be blamed for the ongoing developments in Ukraine as people would say that she was there with Hollande, represented Europe, and pushed Ukraine in the wrong direction. She starts making excuses. Once again I emphasize that this is vile and disgraceful. It would be better for her to keep a low profile. By doing it, she canceled everything that she had done for Germany and the European Union. And we took her seriously. And Russia took her seriously. But, as you can see, we were wrong. She turned out to be as petty as all the leaders of Europe today,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.