Belarus leader says EU uninterested in Ukraine peace efforts

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has accused the European Union of obstructing peace efforts related to the war in Ukraine, claiming that overtures from Minsk and Moscow have gone unanswered.

In remarks reported by BELTA, Lukashenko said he relayed a joint message from himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin to French representatives, while also criticizing EU leaders for what he described as a lack of interest in advancing diplomatic solutions, BELTA reports.

“Macron or someone else may now have come to their senses at the end of their career, saying: we will establish contacts with Russia, we will talk. No one ever refused that. I was at the epicenter of this. Some issues were resolved directly through me. The French came here. I passed on a message to them not only from myself, but also from Putin: well, let’s do it. Not needed by the French side,” Lukashenko stated.

The Belarusian leader also asserted that US President Donald Trump had undertaken efforts to advance peace in Ukraine. “But they (in the EU) do not need this,” he said, referring to European officials. Lukashenko added that amid ongoing turbulence in Europe, it is necessary to “calm this region down,” suggesting that the resources of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) could have been more actively employed, though this has not occurred.

“Therefore, we are not pushing the idea that a Board of Peace should replace the United Nations. But, as the Americans say, step by step,” Lukashenko concluded.

By Vafa Guliyeva