Meeting with leaders of communist parties of Russiaand Ukraine

President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko suggested an acceptable solution to the Ukraine crisis to the West at a meeting with the leaders of the communist parties of Russia and Ukraine Gennady Zyuganov and Piotr Simonenko on 8 August.

“Unfortunately, nobody wants peace in Ukraine. Some time ago I put forward a solution and the West agreed to it - those who spoke with me said that it was a viable solution. I told them: Look, this would be an acid test for you. If you wanted peace in Ukraine, you would agree to this plan. After all, it would not cost them anything,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“And then I realized once again - and told my fellow presidents about it – that we were simply being dragged into this bloodshed. The more we get involved, the better it is for them,” the Belarusian leader said.

"Who would have ever thought that the three Slavic states, the friendliest and closest nations, could get into this mess in the south of our fatherland, and I am not afraid to use this word," the President noted with regret.

“In the near future we - the Presidents of Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine (if Ukraine agrees to it, at least it has not rejected this idea) - have plans to hold a series of meetings to have a fundamental discussion as to what is happening there,” the Belarusian leader said.

“Intentions of Americans, Europeans are clear. At the very beginning I said that we needed to be cautious as they would try to draw us into this carnage. It is not enough for them to create a hotbed of tensions, they want a new war. And the war will be very dangerous. Nobody paid attention to this back then. But look what is happening now,” the Belarusian President said.

Addressing the participants of the meeting, Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that it is very important for him to hear an alternative point of view both from Moscow and Kiev about the current developments.

Gennady Zyuganov, for his part, thanked the Belarusian head of state for the opportunity to hold this meeting. “This meeting is of paramount importance for us, because the war is raging and it will have a devastating toll on all our countries,” he said.

The leader of the Russian Communist Party emphasized that the bonds between the people of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are very strong; the three peoples fought shoulder by shoulder during the Great Patriotic War, including during the liberation of Belarus, Ukraine, Crimea and Sevastopol, during the siege of Leningrad.

“We pin big hopes on your mediation, we know that you are held in great esteem, including among many population groups of Ukraine, and we will do our best to restore peace and settle this issue,” Gennady Zyuganov said.

Speaking with Aleksandr Lukashenko, the leader of the Russian Communist Party shared his plans to visit the new museum of the Great Patriotic War. Aleksandr Lukashenko responded that the museum is an important symbol and urged to make sure that the generations to come will remember about the Great Victory. “Some have been trying recently not only to distort the history, but to deliberately steal the Victory from our people. I cannot say that the youth has started to forget it, but somehow their interest is waning,” the Belarusian leader remarked.

“We have been pressurized for several years already – by westerners, Americans, Europeans – by means of sanctions and other instruments. I keep telling them: you should bow to Belarusians to thank them for their great sacrifice in that war,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.