Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, said in an interview published on Monday that Russia and Ukraine must agree to end the war that has dragged on for more than four years without end.
Lukashenko, whose former Soviet nation has been improving relations with Washington, also said he would not rule out a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Lukashenko told Al Arabiya television that it was clear that victory on the battlefield was not realistic for either side in the Russia-Ukraine war, although he said Russian forces were still advancing.
“Today, we need to use any measures to reach a peace agreement through compromise. For a long time,” he said in the interview, which was republished by Belarus’ Belta news agency.
“If they realize on both sides … you can’t go further, otherwise there will be an escalation and a worse situation … If this enters the minds of the fighters and their supporters, it means that a compromise can be reached.”
Belarus allowed Russia to use its territory for a 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has allowed Moscow to deploy nuclear weapons on its soil.
