Lukashenko assures of no intention to go to war against Ukraine, but urged "not to provoke" Belarus

Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel that he was ready to apologize to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his harsh statements if they offended him, but at the same time stressed that he considered his words a reaction to threats from the Ukrainian side.

This was announced by BELTA, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Answering questions about his previous offensive statements to Zelenskyy and their compatibility with proposals for negotiations, Lukashenko explained that he had been holding back for a long time.

"I was silent. Even everyone was surprised that I was silent. I understood: a person is under such pressure, young, inexperienced, not a military man. But when they started threatening me, I was forced to respond," he said.

According to Lukashenko, the statements were about possible strikes on the territory of Belarus.

At the same time, he admitted that perhaps it was not worth using such harsh language.

Lukashenko also called on Zelenskyy not to aggravate relations with Minsk and assured that Belarus had no intention of going to war against Ukraine.

"He needs to calm down and take it for granted. There is no need to provoke me, to provoke Belarusians. There are a lot of people in Belarus who want peace - just like he and the Ukrainians," he said.

In addition, Lukashenko mentioned the 2022 negotiations, saying that he offered the Ukrainian President ways to end the war.

"If he had listened to me then, there would be no talk today about where to stop," the Belarusian leader added.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on May 28, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine announced that Belarus had prepared bases for the emergency deployment of troops.