Скриншот видео
The press service of Alyaksandr Lukashenka has published another set of excerpts from an interview with American journalist Greta Van Susteren, the wife of U.S. President’s Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale, recorded for the Newsmax television channel. The questions focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine and Donald Trump’s efforts to reach a peace agreement. Lukashenka twice warned of a global conflict, repeated Russian propaganda narratives about the start of the war and the role of European countries, and described Crimea as a “philosophical question.”
Below is a transcript of the video excerpts published by Lukashenka’s press service.
AL: If this depended only on Trump, the war would have ended long ago. Here there are two other conflicting sides: Russia and Ukraine, and they have also dragged us in — Belarus. We border this conflict, and it is not indifferent to us how events there will develop and how it will end. Therefore, this is a multilateral process, and Trump alone will not resolve this issue.
I spoke with him by phone before Alaska, when he was meeting with Putin, and I told him directly that this is not a short period — one must prepare for hard work. This problem cannot be solved with a sudden rush, as we say. And that is exactly what is happening. And then I advised him to make every effort to agree with Russia to stop the war. Shooting must stop at the front. And all movement toward war must cease. And when there is no shooting, when people are not dying, as Trump constantly says, then one can talk for months and years.
For example, the Soviet Union and Russia still have not concluded a peace treaty with Japan and continue negotiations on a peace agreement, but this does not prevent them from cooperating. There is no war, people are not dying.
Therefore, the main thing today is to stop the slaughter so that people stop dying. And I emphasize once again: it must be done so that no one remains on edge, thinking that we stopped the conflict at the moment when Russia is winning — and this is indeed the case, we discussed this with Coale yesterday — so that Russia does not have suspicions in this regard. Everything must be done so that Ukraine and its army are not rearmed during this time, so that Americans, together with Europeans, do not supply weapons there. Freeze this conflict from beginning to end. People are not dying — then sit down and negotiate about anything you want, territorially or otherwise. The main thing is to stop the loss of life.
A lot depends on Trump. Yes, indeed, here in this hall negotiations began in 2015, in February, right here. Merkel, Hollande, Putin, Poroshenko — we sat here and negotiated. We reached an agreement. If at that time the Europeans had not taken a foolish position — they wanted, as Merkel later stated, to give Ukrainians time to arm themselves and resist Russia. It turns out they did not come here to negotiate peace, but a future war. The agreement was concluded then. The mediators, one could say, were Germany and France. How did it end? With nothing.
I then proposed that Americans be included in this group. Without America there will be no peace there. But if the agreements reached here in Minsk had been implemented, there would have been no war. Trump is right here. He directly states that if he had been president, there would have been no war. Most likely, yes — Trump would not have stayed on the sidelines. But what happened happened. Now a great deal depends on Trump’s position and that of the United States. A great deal. The main thing is that Trump does not retreat from this position. He is a man of character, sometimes impulsive. He must not just wave it all away and step aside. If he persistently moves in this direction, then there will be a result. Europeans have nothing to shout about here.
GS: President Trump was disappointed with president Putin and president Zelenskyy. What does Putin want?
AL: I am now sure that Putin wants peace. I will not list the reasons — you know them well. These are both internal and external reasons. Zelenskyy also wants the same. I am sure, especially now, that he wants peace. But their views on how the war should end differ.
Trump is right in that one must look at realities, at the results of this war as of today, and proceed from those realities. If Ukraine believes it can defeat Russia and is ready to fight, then let it fight. But from my point of view, Trump holds the position that if this continues, Ukraine may simply disappear from the map.
What is most dangerous is that if this conflict continues and escalation continues, it could end very badly for Europe and the world. It will inevitably turn into some kind of global conflict.
That is why it must be extinguished while it is still possible. Now, more than ever, there is such an opportunity, when Americans have seriously engaged in this issue. This is your most important foreign policy issue. No Taiwan or other conflicts can overshadow it. Because the continuation of this conflict will lead to a global conflict with the use of all existing weapons. This must not be allowed.
GS: I do not know, and most Americans probably do not know either, why Putin started this war. Why? What was he trying to achieve?
AL: Americans do not know because you have not told them the true reasons for the war. I will give you an example that I usually give, and you will understand me.
You have Mexico next to you, just as Russia has Ukraine next to it. The United States is a large and powerful country, just like Russia. If in Mexico they began forcing Americans living there, especially in border areas, to speak Spanish instead of English, pushing this in schools, and God forbid, somewhere Americans were burned alive — how would you act? You would do everything to wipe Mexico off the face of the earth. I am just giving an example. The same thing happened in Ukraine against Russia.
Why was it necessary to suffocate people living in eastern Ukraine and force them to abandon the Russian language? Why? Let people choose their language themselves. If you want Ukrainian there, then prepare for long-term work, step by step, calmly — in kindergartens, schools, civil service. This takes years. Instead, they decided to silence the Russian-speaking population. And the entire East is Russian-speaking.
Moreover, in Odesa, as you know, they burned people whom they considered their enemies — so-called Russian-speakers. This policy was elevated to a state level in Ukraine.
And then, as an old politician, I say: if you live next to a sleeping bear, do not wake it.
Find normal relations to coexist. Under me, I know this, I saw it, I participated in these negotiations. Russia agreed with Ukraine on Crimea, on security, on the fact that military bases in Crimea would be Russian. Russia supplied Ukraine with energy resources at half the global price. I saw this. Under Yeltsin and Putin there were normal relations. No — it was necessary, not without the help of Americans and especially Europeans, to organize this Maidan. Everything was overturned. The sitting president was overthrown. He was forced to leave the country. Many such reasons can be cited, and they will not be in Ukraine’s favor.
GS: If I understand you correctly, if Trump had been president back then, this war would not have happened.
AL: I am convinced. If Trump had pursued the policy he is pursuing now.
GS: But President Zelenskyy has said that the war began in 2014 in Crimea.
AL: There was no war in Crimea. Today Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian authorities say Crimea is Ukrainian. Crimea is a jewel, whoever it belongs to. They say the war began there. War is when two sides fight head-on with weapons. There was not a single shot fired by Ukrainians in Crimea. Russians did not need to shoot because no one fought for Crimea. It happened before my eyes.
GS: But they annexed it.
AL: You can call it annexation, liberation, or seizure. That is a philosophical question. But if it was your land, why did you not defend it? Ukrainians simply gave it up. I once said that Russians acted reasonably and reached agreements with those who were supposed to defend Crimea. Thus Crimea was effectively handed over to the “little green men,” as you called them.
GS: How will this war end?
AL: Any war ends in peace. That is a classic. This war will also end in peace. The sooner, the fewer people will die. I often say, speaking bluntly: you know, someone died and that’s it. But how many people return from this war maimed? What are we to do with them? Without legs, without arms. Exchanges are taking place on our territory; exchanges are ongoing.
GS: So how, in reality, can Putin and Zelenskyy achieve this peace?
AL: You know, I think the situation that is forming around these presidents will push them toward peace. Do Russians like that the war is going on? Of course not. If there is escalation, it could lead to mobilization in Russia, to mobilization and even greater involvement of the population. Would that be good for Russia? It would not.
And then, Putin often tells me this: we are fighting each other here—our own people. There is psychology involved, and many, many other issues.
Zelenskyy must understand, and does understand, that this could end with Ukraine no longer existing. And these factors, plus pressure from Trump on both sides—external pressure. If they do not reach an agreement now, that external pressure will only intensify. These factors weigh on both presidents, and they understand that they need to stop, they need to reach an agreement, but guarantees are required.
Russia wants guarantees that this will be forever. I know this. Russia wants to conclude such a peace treaty so that war never starts again. Ukraine is also interested in this. Trump is ready to act as a guarantor. Everything is there. Therefore, the process needs to be intensified, it needs to be accelerated.
And the fact that Trump is, in this case, putting more pressure on the Ukrainian president—because he does not want to make a deal, as Trump says. Why does he not want to? Because Europeans have become involved and are whispering in his ear that they will help Zelenskyy fight on. They will not help. They do not have the resources that the United States has. And if the Americans step aside, escalation will be inevitable. Then Macron, Merz, and Starmer will understand their mistake.
GS: What will happen if Trump becomes disillusioned? Will he simply step away from this?
AL: The war will continue. The war will continue until a force prevails in Ukraine that compels Zelenskyy to go for peace. And those forces will compel him to do so when the front begins to collapse completely. In fact, the beginning of this is already visible now.
The first part of the published excerpts focused on Venezuela and Nicolás Maduro.