Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 8 September (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko believes that Ukrainian regions should be given more powers and that decisions about their status should be made after the hostilities are over. The President made this statement in an interview with Sergei Brilev, host of the Vesti on Saturday program on the Rossiya 1 TV channel, BelTA has learnt.

“I heard Mr Putin and Poroshenko, I had met with them often and we had discussed the matter. You, Russians, talk about federalization, the others want decentralization. I said: Look, let us sort it out. What is the difference? There is no difference, the two words mean the same,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

“Everything suggests that Ukrainian regions should get more powers. What kind of powers? One needs to sit at the negotiating table, talk it over and document it in the constitution. It does not really matter how this will be called – decentralization or federalization or autonomy. It can be discussed later, not until the roar of cannons, machine guns and jets is over,” the Belarusian leader noted.

“The number one objective is to put an end to the bloodshed. When it is over, life will sort it out,” the Belarusian head of state noted.

“Remember when years ago Boris Yeltsin said: “Take as much sovereignty as you want”. And everyone did. Where is Russia’s sovereignty now? There is none, because things changed with the course of time and Russians realized that one should be closer to each other. The same thing will happen in Ukraine. Why would you be so obsessed with the wording? I will tell you for the third time: lives of elders and children are the biggest values, the rest does not mean anything,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian President noted that he is ready to do everything he will be asked. “The most important thing for Belarusians is to live a peaceful life, to trade with and to travel to your country and their country, not to let this disaster cross our border. This bothers both Russia and Ukraine,” the head of state said.