Events

“If as a result of the fall of that corruption-based regime a new regime came to be in Ukraine, it would give us some reason to further explore the possibilities. But what has changed in Ukraine after that maidan? Nothing. The corruption that led to the demise of the Ukrainian economy was a fertile ground for revolutionary, strongarm tactics during maidan events,” noted the Belarusian head of state.

In his words, the maidan events were coordinated by politically motivated people, who wanted to grab power to pursue their own agenda. “Those were the people, who knew what they were doing. They were followed by youngsters and another part of the population. Let’s be honest: there are about 40 million residents in Ukraine. Do you want to say that most of them took part in the maidan? Did they speak for the majority? They didn’t. They represented a pitiable minority, who brought down the cowardly government that couldn’t protect either the state or the nation,” noted the Belarus President.

“Taking part in the maidan were people trained in certain Ukrainian camps. I know it because similar camps were created in southern parts of Belarus near Ukraine. We evicted them. And we know who sponsored the training of fighters in such camps. And it was those fighters that participated in the maidan events. I think the West knows it very well,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

“It doesn’t take a lot to arrange some allegedly peaceful action, including during maidan, with fair-faced goals and then deploy highly trained people, who are ready to act for certain goals, as part of that action. They were prepared in Ukraine,” continued the Belarusian head of state. “You may have heard certain USA representatives stating they have spent about $5 billion on democracy in Ukraine. What do we make of it?”

According to the President, if power was consolidated in Ukraine, then no local clashes in Ukraine’s southeast would happen after the Minsk accord and agreements. “But the fierce clashes are happening because the authority is not consolidated over there, since there is no single command over the armed forces because certain political groups and moreover oligarchic groups have their own armed forces and everyone has different interests. We cannot say that the state and the president have absolute control over these armed units, which are often better armed and better equipped than the Ukrainian army, because they are not influenced by the commander in chief, the president of Ukraine,” said the head of state.

In his words, it is very difficult to overcome the process and get rid of the armed units. “Coming to terms with them, creating one consolidated armed force in the country — an army — has to be done first. Nobody but the army can act there. The army has to report to the commander in chief. Once it happens, it will guarantee that even local clashes in Ukraine’s southeast will not happen,” believes the Belarusian leader.

“In any state if the law fails, if citizens and social groups regardless of their standing fail to comply with the law, a disaster is imminent. Maidan participants demanded compliance with the law but their actions were in violation of the laws of Ukraine,” added the head of state.

Speaking about the possibility of another maidan, the Belarus President said it was possible. He stressed that one has to differentiate between maidan processes and processes going on in Ukraine’s southeast. “More maidans are possible in Ukraine because demands of the people, who once participated in the maidan, have not been fulfilled among other things. It may lead to more internal political conflicts,” believes the Belarusian leader. “But from my point of view the continuation of the war in the southeast is impossible”.

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that preventing the conflict from spreading is the key thing now. “To stop the war and prevent people from getting killed is the key thing now. It is the key thing for us, Europeans,” said the Belarusian leader.

Speaking about his personal attitude to the situation in Ukraine, Alexander Lukashenko remarked: “Violence continues in Ukraine, blood is spilt, people are killed. Here is my attitude for you. It is the same kind of attitude that you have and any other person in favor of peace and calm has. If it was happening in any other country, my attitude would be the same: people should not die, wars are not acceptable in our day and age. Because a huge amount of weapons has been stockpiled all over the world and weapons tend to blow up and may set the world ablaze. Therefore, the conflict must not be allowed to grow larger”.