Putin tells Lukashenko about "positive changes" in negotiations with Ukraine
Friday, 11 March 2022, 14:00
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his Belarusian ally, Olexandr Lukashenko, that he has been informed of some "positive changes" in negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian sides.
Source: Putin at a meeting with Lukashenko in Moscow, part of which was published online
According to Putin: "I’ll inform you about the situation in regard to Ukraine – first of all, about the current negotiations, which are being held on an almost daily basis. There are some positive changes, as reported by negotiators from our side."
Details: Lukashenko, in his turn, said that they had nothing to justify: "We did not start this war, we have a clear conscience."
According to him, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were preparing to wage war, and Russia and Belarus struck a "preventive blow".
Lukashenko also said that Russia and Belarus had been accustomed to sanctions since Soviet times. He called it "the West being mean" and "a time of opportunities" for sanctioned countries.
Recall: Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February from several directions, including Belarus.
After that, three rounds of negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations have taken place in Belarus, as well as negotiations between the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Turkey. However, the parties have not achieved any particular progress towards restoring peace.
Russia is making impossible demands of Ukraine, including a pledge not to join NATO, recognition of Crimea as Russian and the ORDLO (the uncontrolled portions of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts) territories as independent, as well as so-called "denazification" and even abandonment of imaginary nuclear developments.
Russian propaganda spreads falsehoods about an alleged Ukrainian nuclear programme, the development of "biological weapons" – diseases and viruses, as well as the alleged intention to use chemical weapons.
The West denies this and fears that Russia, which is already using banned weapons against Ukraine, could launch a chemical attack.
