Oleksiy Goncharenko: Withdrawal Of Russian Troops From Belarus May Be Under Consideration

The West should take a tough stand.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly put Belarus back on the agenda. The Ukrainian leader said that ‘the eastern border of Ukraine and Belarus should become the security line of Europe’. Zelensky also said that aggression against the Baltic States and Poland could be launched from the territory of our country.

Why does the president of Ukraine raise the topic of Belarus? Charter97.org has asked this question to the Ukrainian MP, head of the ‘For a Democratic Belarus’ inter-faction Oleksiy Goncharenko:

- I think, in order to show all the threats coming from Russia and to increase tension. There is a threat coming from Belarus, as a matter of fact. Putin is making it a springboard for his aggressive actions against Europe. Zelensky is absolutely right here.

- Can the issue of Belarus be raised at the talks? For example, can the option of demilitarising Belarus be considered?

- Obviously, there are already some negotiations on Belarus. It is worth noting here that if there is any lifting of sanctions against the Lukashenka regime, it is a bad story.

As for demilitarisation, there are rumours that the Americans may reduce their military presence in Europe in order to reduce tensions in the world (Trump spoke about disarmament, demilitarisation, reducing military budgets and so on). In turn, Russia will reduce (formally - cancel) its presence in Belarus.

In fact, this is absolutely pointless, because Belarus is under Russia's control, and it will all be absolutely formal.

Look, I don't want to offend, but Trump doesn't see Belarus as a separate part of the game at all. It's an appendage to Putin, to the Russian Federation for him. I am in favour of a tough stand against Putin, and therefore against all his deputies - Lukashenka and others. Nothing but a tough policy.

But it seems that there will be an attempt to go in a completely different direction and make an agreement with Putin. I do not know whether it will work or not. We will find out soon.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail [email protected]