Lukashenko says war in Ukraine will be over soon; Office of President of Ukraine refutes this statement

OLENA ROSHCHINA – THURSDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2022, 21:15

During an open history lesson for schoolchildren and university students in Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, the country’s self-proclaimed president, said that the war in Ukraine will be over in the near future and he was convinced that Russia would not lose it.

Source: Vedomosti, a Russian-language business daily newspaper published in Moscow, quoting TASS (a Russian state-owned news agency); Belta (Belarusian state-owned news agency)

Quote from Lukashenko: "There is a conflict brewing between the president and the military [of Ukraine]. Only the military can put their foot down and say: ‘No, let’s reach an agreement, because [otherwise] Ukraine will be erased off the face of the earth.’"

Details: Lukashenko was trying to convince Belarusian students that Ukraine was being "divided". He stressed in particular that Poland was interested in claiming Ukraine’s western regions.

Lukashenko, therefore, believes that the war will be over "in the near future".

Moreover, he hopes that it is the Ukrainian military and not the country’s president who will determine the course of Ukraine’s actions. According to him, the military are better poised to see the "hopelessness" of Ukraine’s position.

Quote from Lukashenko: "Russia cannot suffer a defeat there. I personally, and many other Belarusians, support Russia in this regard."

Comment from the Office of the President of Ukraine: Mykhailo Podoliak, Adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, told Ukrinform [Ukrainian state-run news agency] that Lukashenko’s allegation that there is a conflict between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the military – a conflict, which has allegedly "been eroding our society for months" –  is a groundless fake.

"Lukashenko has relayed, with great knowledge and in great detail, the media narrative about the alleged powerful conflict between the military and political leadership in Ukraine. [According to the narrative,] this conflict will allegedly result in some sort of a coup in the near future, because the military are tired of the war and no longer want to put up with President Zelenskyy’s radicalism," Podoliak commented on Lukashenko’s statement.

The Ukrainian official believes that Lukashenko’s words make the source of this informational and psychological operation obvious.

"With significant military problems becoming more obvious, the Russian special forces will intensify their efforts to destabilise the social and political situation inside the country. For example, [they will] scale up this fake news about the [alleged] ‘conflict between the politicians and the military’," Podoliak believes.

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