Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, is calling on both Russia and Ukraine to make compromises in order to bring their long-running war to an end. The comments came in an interview published Monday with Al Arabiya television and later republished by Belarus’ Belta news agency.
Lukashenko stated that a battlefield victory is simply not realistic for either side, even as he acknowledged that Russian forces continue to move forward in certain areas.
“Today, we need to use any steps to reach a peaceful agreement through compromises. For the long term,” Lukashenko said in the interview.
He went on to say that if both sides come to understand the limits of what force can achieve, a deal becomes possible. “If they realise on both sides … you can’t go further, otherwise there will be escalation and an even worse situation … If this sinks into the minds of the fighters and their supporters, it means a compromise can be reached,” he said.
Belarus permitted Russia to launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian soil back in 2022 and has since allowed Moscow to station nuclear weapons within its borders. Russia’s early push toward the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv ultimately failed, and over the past four years the conflict has settled into a grinding war of incremental gains in Ukraine’s south and east, at enormous cost to both sides in lives and equipment.
Lukashenko extended his assessment beyond Ukraine, arguing that military solutions are off the table in multiple global conflicts. “Neither side has a military solution. There is no military solution in Ukraine or in the Middle East,” he said.
While describing Russian forces as advancing “step-by-step” against determined Ukrainian resistance, Lukashenko pointed to a critical problem facing both armies — a shortage of personnel. “Russians are experiencing this shortage. Maybe not like in Ukraine, but it’s there. But that’s the main issue of this conflict — they are running out of people,” he said.
Lukashenko has consistently maintained that Belarusian troops will not be sent into the conflict in Ukraine, while also stating that Russia and Belarus would stand together in their own defense. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has said his forces have strengthened their positions on the battlefield in recent months and has raised concerns that Russia could use Belarusian territory as a launching point for new attacks.
Lukashenko pushed back on those concerns, insisting Ukraine has nothing to fear from Belarus. “Absolutely nothing to fear. Absolutely. They know it, the soldiers know it. The people of Ukraine know it,” he said, adding that “this topic gets stirred up by political ambitions.”
Efforts to broker peace through U.S.-led negotiations have hit a wall, with Washington’s focus now largely directed toward the conflict involving Iran. Zelenskiy has repeatedly urged direct talks with Putin.
