Belarusian strongman and close Kremlin ally Alexander Lukashenko called on Friday for a “truce” in Ukraine and talks “without preconditions” between Moscow and kyiv.
“We must stop now, before an escalation begins. I will take the risk of suggesting an end to hostilities…a declaration of truce,” Lukashenko said during a televised state of the nation address.
“All territorial, reconstruction, security and other issues can and must be settled at the negotiating table, without preconditions,” added Lukashenko, in power since 1994.
He also said Western support for kyiv increases the likelihood of nuclear war breaking out in Ukraine.
“Thanks to the efforts of the United States and its satellites, a full-scale war has been unleashed in [Ukraine]…a Third World War with nuclear fires is looming on the horizon,” he said.
Belarus has allowed Russian forces to use its territory as a launching pad for Moscow’s offensive, but Lukashenko has so far refused to send his own troops over the border.
Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in the country’s ally Moscow, drawing condemnation from the West.
Belarus later said it felt compelled to host Russian nuclear weapons due to ‘unprecedented’ Western pressure on Minsk, while insisting their deployment did not violate existing international agreements. .