Russia, Ukraine and the West must agree to stop the conflict in Ukraine to avoid the “abyss of nuclear war,” Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday.
“We need to stop, reach an agreement, end this mess, operation and war in Ukraine,” Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top ally, told AFP in an exclusive interview in Minsk.
“Let’s stop and then we’ll figure out how to keep living,” he said during the hour-long talk at the Independence Palace.
“There is no need to go further. Beyond is the abyss of nuclear war. There is no need to go there,” he said, on the 148th day of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
Lukashenko accused the West of seeking conflict with Russia and of provoking the war in Ukraine.
“You have encouraged war and you continue it,” he said. “We have seen the reasons for this war.
“If Russia hadn’t gotten ahead of you, NATO members, you would have organized and struck,” he said, echoing Putin.