Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said over the weekend that Russia and Ukraine need to engage in negotiations as both sides find themselves in a protracted frontline stalemate.
"There are enough problems on both sides and in general the situation is now seriously stalemated: no one can do anything and substantively strengthen or advance their position," Lukashenko said in a Q&A video posted on the website of the Belarusian state news agency BelTA.
Lukashenko, who allowed his country's territory to be used as a base for Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, emphasized the importance of addressing Ukraine's call for Russia to withdraw from its territory through diplomatic means so that "nobody dies."
Lukashenko's comments come amid Ukraine’s peace plan talks that kicked off in Malta on Oct. 28, with the participation of 66 countries. Russia and Belarus didn't participate in Malta talks.
In his evening address, President Volodymyr Zelensky said it is "very symbolic that such a strong display of international unity we have (...) on October 28, the day when in Ukraine we commemorate the Second World War and the anniversary of the expulsion of the Nazis from our territory."
"We can see now that the architecture created then did not work. But unity will certainly work effectively," Zelensky said. "The unity of all who help Ukraine defeat Ruscism. And we will defeat it. For sure. And the unity of everyone in the world who works together with us, together with all our partners, to restore the strength of international law and the real weight of the principles and norms of the UN Charter."
The two-day meeting of national security delegates is the third round of such talks in recent months. Ukraine sees them as an opportunity to win support for Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan from countries around the globe.
Dominic Culverwell
(Updated: )
