Amid fears that Russia is preparing to start nuclear testing, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been humiliated by one of his closest allies. The Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko defended Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyyon Thursday 5 October. His comments are now being circulated on X and observers are finding it very odd that he would say anything positive about Ukraine.
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Belarus is a former Soviet Union republic and has remained a firm ally of the country for decades. Throughout Russia’s war against Ukraine, Belarus has offered extensive aid and allowed Russian forces to use its land for strategic purposes - they are, however, yet to actually deploy troops in Ukraine.
What Alexander Lukashenko said
The clip started doing the rounds on social media on Saturday. In it, Lukashenko seems to defend Zelenskyy, saying that he Ukrainian leader has acted ‘appropriately’ during the conflict with Russia. This has surprised many observers who have found it bizarre that he should speak up for Ukraine and inevitably offend his close ally Putin in doing so.
In the clip, he says:
We, and Russians, and journalists say that Zelenskyy is this and that, a beggar, acting disrespectfully and dishonestly.
And I have to say that Zelenskyy is acting absolutely appropriately.
In an extended clip that was shared later on X, Lukashenko appeared to suggest that Russia’s war against Ukraine had been planned since 2014 - the year in which Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula.
Reactions to Lukashenko’s comments
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis from the Defense Priorities think tank told Newsweek that he thinks Lukashenko was trying to put Zelenskyy in a bad light, painting him as a puppet for the west’s desires to create a conflict with Russia:
So in the sense he's using it in this speech, Zelenskyy did the 'right thing' by playing his role properly, not that he did the right thing as in he is correct in fighting Russia. I think he's trying to make Zelenskyy look bad, make America look bad, and the west look bad by implying that we desired conflict all along and now Zelenskyy is mad because he feels like the west left him hanging out to dry instead of what they agreed to.
Others have seen it as a surprisingly unbiased defense of Zelenskyy's actions as the leader of a country at war. This interpretation makes Lukashenko's comments very embarrassing for Putin, who certainly thinks of Belarus as a solid supporter of Russia.
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Sources used:
Newsweek: Key Putin Ally Offers Surprising Defense of Zelensky
