Lukashenko on Ukrainian counter-offensive: says it's disinformation, but asks for talks

Alexander Lukashenko, self-proclaimed President of Belarus and an ally of the Russian dictator, has said that all the statements about the Ukrainian counter-offensive are "disinformation". Lukashenko has traditionally stated that Ukraine and Russia should sit down at the negotiating table without any preliminary demands from Kyiv.

Source: Belarusian state-controlled news agency BelTa

Quote: "There is much talk now: 'Counter-offensive, counter-offensive!' Disinformation is perilous in any battle. Remember the Battle of Kursk [1943], [or the battle of] Stalingrad [August 1942 to February 1943], when we successfully misinformed the enemy and won the battle...

But I must say that the biggest misinformation is this ‘counter-offensive’. From my point of view, there is no ‘counter-offensive’, and there cannot be. It's just madness. To fight one to five on the frontline in terms of assets and personnel is just madness! No, they need to stir up Ukrainians, they need to wind them up to carry on and drown us in this confrontation. This is what is happening at the front today. We can see it. It's right over our border."

Details: Lukashenko, who visited Moscow to attend Putin's Victory Day parade on 9 May, has traditionally said that it is necessary to "come back to the negotiating table".

He believes some new document might be drafted, different from the one that Ukraine and Russia developed in February 2022, immediately after the full-scale invasion.

Lukashenko also claimed that the Ukrainian president was putting forward preconditions for the talks to prevent them: "What preconditions can there be? We must sit at the negotiating table and work out all sorts of conditions there."

Background:

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine needs more time to launch a counter-offensive against Russia, as the military still needs pledged Western aid.
• Among the supplies that Ukraine is still waiting for are armoured vehicles, including tanks, which Zelenskyy said are arriving in batches.
• Zelenskyy also voiced his certainty that Ukraine will gain victory before the US elections in November 2024.
• Read more: Ukrainian Foreign Minister: Don't Think This Is Our Final Counteroffensive, We May Need to Prepare for Next One

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