"Doing my best to get by": Lukashenko comments on Zelensky, strikes on Mozyr, and negotiations (video)

During a press conference held in honor of the presidential elections, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko discussed the initial days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The politician claimed that he did not suggest to President Volodymyr Zelensky to strike the Belarusian oil refinery. Additionally, he expressed that the Ukrainians behaved improperly during the peace negotiations. A video featuring comments on the strike against the Mozyr oil refinery and the onset of the war was published on the Telegram channel of the state Belarusian media "Pool of the First."

Lukashenko asserted that he could not have proposed to Zelensky to target the Mozyr oil refinery. He provided two reasons to support this stance. Firstly, according to him, Belarus had invested significant money in reconstruction, and thus he could not suggest striking the best refinery. Secondly, if the politician had made such a proposal, he would have had to answer to the Kremlin for it.

"It was absolutely unacceptable to suggest to Zelensky to strike our oil refinery. Nothing of the sort happened. Why are you saying this? You are a bad showman. Should I ask him to strike the refinery!? That wouldn't benefit me, and then I would have to answer for it," Lukashenko stated.

Furthermore, Lukashenko commented on the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. He recalled a meeting in Belarus during the early days of the invasion and the three rounds of negotiations in Turkey. According to him, the Ukrainian side allegedly delayed their arrival to the negotiations intentionally, which could have caused them to fail.

"Zelensky was trying to maneuver as best he could. We agreed to hold the first meeting in Gomel at around 11:00, but they only arrived by night. And I will frankly say, I had already told the Russians: guys, don’t go, they will accuse us later of not wanting negotiations. They listened to me, [while the Ukrainians] only arrived by night," he can be heard saying in the video.

It should be noted that regarding a potential strike on the oil refinery in Mozyr, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned this during an interview with American blogger Lex Friedman. According to the politician, this was discussed in the early days of the Russian invasion in 2022. Zelensky claimed that Lukashenko allegedly suggested hitting the oil refinery in response to Russian strikes on Ukraine. The president also asserted that there were apologies in Minsk for the war.

Details of the Elections in Belarus

Lukashenko's address took place on January 26, the day of the presidential elections in Belarus. In addition to Lukashenko, there are four other candidates participating in the elections: Oleg Gaidukevich, Anna Kanopatskaya, Sergey Siranok, and Alexander Khizhnyak. For the politician, this marks his seventh election. The previous elections took place in 2020 and were accompanied by widespread falsifications, as reported by the platforms "Voice," "Zubr," and "Honest People." Following the results, unrest began in Belarus, suppressed by Russian and Belarusian special services: Western countries did not recognize the results.