Lukashenko: President Volodymyr Zelensky had chance to become peacemaker

President Volodymyr Zelensky had a chance to become a peacemaker in Ukraine and make serious progress in resolving the conflict in Donbass, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the Big Conversation with the President, a meeting with the public, experts and media community in the format of a big press conference in Minsk on 9 August, BelTA has learned.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, the former President Petro Poroshenko failed the Minsk accords because he was controlled from the outside. "He didn't implement them. Putin has a trump card: you signed them, you fulfill them. And he didn't. Zelensky should have... He had a chance. He could have become a peacemaker. Putin took the election of the new president very well," the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he was surprised at Vladimir Putin's confidence in Volodymyr Zelensky at the start, because it was not then clear what kind of president the new elect would become. “He used to say ‘He is different”. Putin favored that man and was ready to talk to him. What happened then? Why he, while declaring his willingness to engage in negotiations, he has made steps in the opposite direction? You need to answer this question,” the Belarusian president said. He believes that during the negotiations they need to “put aside” the things regarding the roots of those events and move on to discuss those things which may yield results. This would be diplomacy,” he said.

The Belarusian head of state confirmed that he is ready, as before, to contribute to the process if necessary, although he does not like mediation. “I am ready to do anything possible to make the lives of people in Ukraine better,” he said.