President Volodymyr Zelensky issued one of his strongest statements yet toward Belarus on Friday, saying during a briefing attended by Kyiv Post that self-proclaimed President Alexander Lukashenko “will pay” for allowing Russian forces to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory on Feb. 24, 2022.
Zelensky sharply dismissed Lukashenko’s new media-friendly tone and his attempts to portray sympathy for Ukrainians.
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Zelensky warned that Lukashenko’s new tone in the media does not erase his role in enabling the assault.
“Lukashenko should not forget,” the president said.
“Now he has become very talkative in the media and tries to show how kind he is to our people. We did not need his kindness at four in the morning when the rockets arrived.”
He stressed that Ukrainians remember exactly how the invasion began.
“If he thinks he can talk away our memory… We are young people, we remember everything very well,” Zelensky said.
“And he will still pay for what he has done – for allowing the attack from his territory. The start of the full-scale war came at us from Belarus. Nobody will forget this.”
The comments came in the context of why Ukraine refuses to consider Belarus as a venue for any negotiations with Russia. Zelensky said that Minsk is a participant in the Kremlin’s aggression, not a neutral mediator.
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His remarks followed Lukashenko’s statement on Nov. 6, in which the Belarusian ruler claimed to “feel compassion” for Ukrainians and invited them to come work in Belarus.
“Come, Ukrainians! We will gladly accept you… Your families and children will have the same life as Belarusians,” Lukashenko said, portraying Ukrainians as “hard-working people” who “speak the same language.”