Thursday16 January 2025
g-novosti.in.ua

"Believe me, Volodya, it's not me, it's Putin." - "You're just as much a killer." Zelensky shared his conversation with Lukashenko at the war's outset.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that he spoke on the phone with Alexander Lukashenko, who claims to be the President of Belarus, on the second or third day of the full-scale Russian aggression. Zelensky shared this information during an interview with American podcaster Lex Fridman, with the video being published on the President's Office YouTube channel on January 5.
"Поверь, Володя, это не я, это Путин." — "Ты такой же убийца." Зеленский поделился диалогом с Лукашенко в начале конфликта.

According to the Ukrainian president, during the conversation, Lukashenko apologized.

"A few days into the war, I spoke with Lukashenko over the phone. And he apologized. He said: 'It’s not me. Missiles were launched from my territory, and [illegitimate Russian president Vladimir] Putin was the one who launched them.' Those were his words," emphasized Zelensky.

The president noted that there are witnesses to their conversation.

"He told me: 'Believe me, Volodya, it’s not me […] I don’t control this, it’s just missiles, it’s Putin… I told him, 'You are just as much a killer,' and I’m just being honest with you. And he said to me: 'Understand, you can’t fight the Russians.' I replied: 'We have never fought. The war, the missiles came, I said, from your land, from Belarus, how did you allow this?' He said: 'Well, okay, respond in kind.' I still remember, he told me: 'Strike the oil refinery, you know how much it means to me' […] the Mozyr refinery. I said to him: 'What are you talking about? What kind of response?'” Zelensky recounted.