Кирилл Буданов. Скриншот видео.
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, believes that in Minsk Aliaksandr Lukashenka heeded Ukraine’s warnings and that there is currently no threat from Belarus. He said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“It appears that he did. But, in general, I would take a calmer view of the issue of Belarus. We do not need another enemy.
I do not mean that we ourselves should escalate anything, no. But, in principle, having another enemy and another theatre of military operations is certainly not in our interest. The fact that they heard us was a very correct step.
And that is exactly how it should be perceived,” he said.
Budanov believes that Lukashenka has no need to take part in the war.
“I do not even understand why, in theory, he would need that. A war with Ukraine would end in disaster for them.
Because on one side there is Russia, which will suffocate them in a brotherly embrace and ultimately strangle them under such circumstances. And they know this perfectly well. On the other side there is Ukraine, which, let us put it this way, is capable of something,” he said.
“Accordingly, as of now, at the time of this interview, I do not see any threats, and I am not referring only to a ground offensive,” he added.
Kyrylo Budanov held the post of head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defence Ministry before becoming head of the Office of the President.