Lukashenko proposes holding Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Minsk

MINSK. Feb 24 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has proposed that representatives of Russia and Ukraine negotiate in Minsk.

"We are the Slavs, the three Slavic peoples. Let's sit down and decide our future once and for all. What is the base of this? If I were [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, I would grab onto this moment. Putin said, and this was brilliant, and I praised him during the conversation for this: 'We are not occupants, we are not going to occupy Ukraine,'" the BelTA state-run news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying in Minsk on Thursday.

Lukashenko voiced the idea of holding the negations in Minsk. "What else is needed? This is the base for negotiations. He [Putin] is indeed not going to occupy [Ukraine]. Who would want this kind of headache? No one is going to plant forces and governments there. This is a basis for negotiations. Let's work out an agenda and solutions on this basis," he said.

Lukashenko said he is certain that negotiations are the sole chance to stop the escalation.