Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the military was pressuring politicians to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible and that even Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was “starting to understand things.” This is what he’s talking about aforementioned He came to the EAEU summit in St. To journalists in St. Petersburg.
“Now it has reached politicians as well. The army is putting pressure. As I always say, the army sees what is happening. The pressure is already very strong. You probably noticed that Zelensky was starting to understand at the press conference,” Lukashenko said.
In his view, next year will be the “best chance” for progress in resolving the conflict. Lukashenko said that the situation in Ukraine has now developed well for all parties, so we can end this here.
“I think this is the best chance. <…> Especially now, when the situation is favorable. And not just for us. But it also applies to them so as not to lose Ukraine,” he thinks.
The President of Belarus claims that Ukraine will face “collapse” if it fails to seize this opportunity.
“We will be with them [украинскими властями] Work harder somehow so they realize this is their only chance. If they do not use it, there will be a complete collapse,” Lukashenko concluded.
Zelensky said at a press conference on December 19 that negotiations with Russia are “not important” at the moment. He added that Kiev still intends to return all of its former territory.
The President also announced that Ukraine and 50 other countries are currently developing a “peace formula” that will be handed over to Russia.
“When the relevant document is ready and all states unite around it, we will be able to hand it over to the Russian representatives. “If they agree, this will signal that they are ready for negotiations,” Zelensky said. Politician registeredhe no longer sees a “request” for negotiations from Moscow.
Russia regularly states that it is open to negotiations. Russian President Vladimir Putin mercenary He points out that Zelensky’s decree directly banned dialogue between officials of both countries. In October 2022, Zelensky signed a document banning negotiations with Russia while Putin is at the head of Russia.
“There [на Украине] The President issued a decree; He banned himself and everyone else from negotiating. Let the Ukrainians cancel the decree <…>They will clearly say what they want [вести переговоры]. Putin said in the fall: I don’t see anything here that would harm their image.
At the same time he highlightedThat Russia “will not give up on itself” and will negotiate in its own interests. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statedIt was said that Ukraine must cease hostilities, the West must stop arms supplies, and “new regional realities must be recognized.”
New York Times (NYT) quotes sources dated December 23 WrotePutin is allegedly ready to freeze the conflict on the current de facto border, and Moscow has been signaling this to the West through intermediaries since September. The newspaper’s interlocutors argued that Russia had agreed to remain where it is now on the battlefield, but Putin would not retreat “even a meter”.
Russian President’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov called the article’s theses “conceptually incorrect.” “Putin is indeed ready for negotiations and has talked about it. Peskov stated that Russia is still ready, but only to achieve its own goals.