Lukashenka: Belarus Has Grievances Against Lenin
Reform.news Editorial Team · 29 September 2026, 13:02
https://reform.news/en/lukashenka-belarus-has-grievances-against-lenin/Aliaksandr Lukashenka believes Belarus could raise grievances against Vladimir Lenin, although he generally views the Soviet legacy positively. He made the remarks at a meeting with Alexei Russkikh, governor of Russia’s Ulyanovsk Region, who was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
“As a person of the old school, I know that you do not entirely reject everything that happened in our history. I am inclined to accept it as a fact that the head of our state was Vladimir Ulyanov. Vladimir Ilyich. Despite all the shortcomings and mistakes — and Belarus has grounds for grievances regarding the early period of his activities — we nevertheless treat this figure with great respect and attention. As I understand it, given even the position of Ulyanovsk Region in our vast homeland, this region plays a special role. That is why this was very important to me.
“I very much wanted to understand your views, especially your current ones. I understand the seriousness of the situation, and I understand the particular circumstances in each state. They always exist in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. But for some reason, I am convinced that our views on the fundamental issues and milestones in the development of our state, our homeland, Russia and Belarus, do not differ much.
“Therefore, having carefully studied everything prepared for me ahead of this meeting, I discovered that a true friend had come to see us, someone who closely follows Belarus’s development and has a very positive attitude towards Belarusians. Gennady Zyuganov recently told me this. I am sure he is also someone you know well, since you worked together in the past. He is a very strong, capable and competent leader,” Lukashenka said while welcoming his guest.
He also sought to draw a parallel with the present, citing China’s experience.
“We have not lost anything from the Soviet era; we have not closed or dismantled anything. On the contrary, we have developed it. And since, as the classic said, we stood on the shoulders of giants, this helped preserve what we have today. This is important for any state. China is a particularly instructive example for us in this regard. We are friends with Xi Jinping and often discuss this subject with him. He frequently tells me that they rejected nothing: neither the period of Mao Zedong nor that of Deng Xiaoping, nor anyone else. They took the best from each period. And look at the results of the development of the People’s Republic of China. It is one of the world’s leading economies, a leading country that everyone has to reckon with. Whether you like China or not, as the Americans do, you still have to reckon with it.
Therefore, we should not reject or discard what came before. We should try to make use of it and develop it. In this respect, we have achieved some success,” Lukashenka continued.
During the meeting with Russkikh, he also assured the governor that a multi-vector foreign policy does not distance Minsk from Moscow. In addition, Lukashenka put forward an idea that could bring together the interests of Belarus, Russia and the United States. It involves building a new nitrogen fertilizer plant with the participation of Gazprom, with the fertilizers produced intended for the US market.