Lukashenko comments on Hollande's, Merkel's statements about Minsk agreements

All problems and conflicts must be resolved peacefully at the negotiating table, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he talked to foreign and Belarusian journalists in Minsk on 16 February, BelTA has learned.

The president is convinced that all problems must be resolved peacefully at the negotiating table. Belarus, and personally the head of state, were involved in this process during the work on the well-known Minsk agreements.


“Well, come to an agreement, sit down at the negotiating table, you see that it is possible. And there were a lot of proposals. Yet you, together with the West, chose to deceive Russia having gathered in Minsk,” the head of state said.

He continued: “Although it was not deception. It's just a trend. Now Hollande and Merkel want to show that they played an important role in keeping Ukraine going, that they gave Ukraine the opportunity to prepare for war. Back in those days everyone believed that we needed to follow the path of the Minsk agreements.”

“Today both Hollande and Merkel are lying. And Poroshenko is also lying. Because today it is not de rigueur to talk about what happened in Minsk. It is not de rigueur. That's the problem,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.