Lukashenka called the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and spoke about the presidential elections in Russia

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko gave a long interview to Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko, during which he named the losses of Kiev and assessed the development of the conflict in Ukraine, spoke about his decision to participate in the presidential elections in 2025. Vedomosti collected the main statements of the Belarusian leader.

Speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, Lukashenka stressed that it could have been avoided, but now there is an opportunity to stop it. He recalled the Minsk agreements, which Russia, according to him, was going to fulfill 100%. Lukashenka also shared that on the eve of the special operation, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not have a conversation about this, but they briefly discussed the situation in Ukraine. Then, according to the President of Belarus, Putin asked him to “cover up”, since “anything can happen.”

Panchenko also asked Lukashenka to evaluate the Ukrainian thesis “about the imperial ambitions” of the Russian Federation. “What are some imperial manners, I did not observe this,” he clarified.

Negotiations on Ukraine should begin without preconditions, and Moscow is ready to talk about any topic, Lukashenka believes. “This is a classic of any diplomacy. I think so. It is necessary to sit down at the negotiating table and discuss everything. And Crimea, and Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Luhansk. Everything needs to be discussed. <…> Of course, Russia will never in its life agree to, as you say, “return Crimea.” This will not happen,” he said, adding that Belarus should participate in the negotiation process.

According to Lukashenka, the goals of the special operation have already been achieved, and Ukraine will never behave so aggressively against Russia after the end of hostilities – more sensible and cautious people will be in power.

During the conversation, the Belarusian leader also assessed the losses of the Ukrainian army since the start of the counteroffensive, saying that during active operations, Kyiv loses 1,500 troops per day. “And you go … as they show the Germans in the movies, to the barricades, but you don’t even reach, we see this, even to the minefields. You are simply destroyed by the thousands, 45,000 of you died during the counteroffensive and left there crippled,” he said.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have been conducting offensive operations for more than two months, since the beginning of June. At the end of July, Putin announced that the Ukrainian counter-offensive had failed. On July 21, Putin said that Kyiv could not achieve any results with a counteroffensive, neither Western-supplied equipment nor thousands of foreign mercenaries helped him in this. According to him, “during suicidal attacks” Ukraine lost tens of thousands of soldiers.

The Belarusian leader also spoke about the upcoming elections in Belarus and Russia. He himself has not yet decided whether he will run for president in 2025. “I haven’t made any decisions, honestly. Maybe this is some kind of careless attitude to this, but I have so many problems that I have to solve. The time will come to make a decision, I will,” he said.

Putin will be the next president of Russia, Lukashenko said. “Putin has no rivals in Russia right now,” he said. At the same time, the President of Belarus believes that the Russian leader is not yet thinking about his successor, but there is such a person – Putin “will see him.”