Владимир Зеленский. Скриншот видео
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Zerkalo in an interview about a phone conversation with Alyaksandr Lukashenka that took place at the beginning of the war. The Ukrainian president rejected Lukashenka’s version, which he has repeatedly voiced, claiming that the call was allegedly organised by his son Mikalai.
Zelenskyy described the stories about the role of Nikolai Lukashenka as phantasmagoria.
“It is some kind of phantasmagoria, to be honest. First of all, one still has to recall which phone he [Alyaksandr Lukashenka] was calling — hardly mine. But nevertheless, I did speak with him. Second, he was apologising, and he was very afraid that we would carry out strikes [in response]. And he himself said: ‘Well, go ahead, strike the plant,’ because he did not know what we could do. And I think he realised that we were ‘not finished off’ in the very first day — our people were not finished off, our army was not finished off, and I personally was not finished off. And when he realised that, he began to look for an opportunity to communicate with me. He was looking — I did not want to. I did not respond immediately, I did not want to talk, I was terribly angry with him. And, in principle, that is how our conversation with him went.
And Belarusian propaganda is propaganda. And I have witnesses to this conversation, and if it is ever required, then I think it will even be possible to read this conversation,” Zelenskyy said.
Answering a follow-up question about the alleged involvement of Mikalai Lukashenka in arranging the call, Zelenskyy said he knew nothing about it.
“No, no. I know about Kolia Lukashenka only that he is Kolia Lukashenka. I know nothing more about this guy,” he said.