Natallia Radzina: Lukashenka’s Daily Hysterical Outbursts Are Not Out Of Blue
- 10.01.2025, 13:57
The vast majority of Belarusians hate the dictator.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy told American podcaster Lex Fridman about his conversation with Lukashenka in the first days of the war. The Belarusian dictator asked the Ukrainian president for forgiveness and said that he did not know about the impending attack.
“Lukashenka is a liar and a manipulator. His task was to urge Ukrainians to capitulate to Russia," said Natallia Radzina, the Editor-in-Chief of Charter97.org. She talked about this in a big interview with the famous journalist Yevgeny Kiselev on his YouTube channel.
Natallia Radzina began the conversation by thanking the President of Ukraine for supporting the Belarusians in the New Year's address:
— Zelensky expressed confidence that my country, Belarus, will be free and democratic. His speech included our patriotic slogan "Long live Belarus!" This inspired and supported the Belarusian people. We are very grateful to the President of Ukraine for this step.
As for his words regarding Lukashenka's behavior in the first days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I believe President Zelensky's words. I believe that Lukashenka could call him and apologize, saying that "It's just Putin's guilt."
“Lukashenka is a liar and a manipulator. His task was to call on Ukrainians to capitulate to Russia. You remember, he invited the Ukrainian delegation to come to Belarus, said that it was pointless to resist, that the Russian army would certainly win this war. The Ukrainian delegation came to the Homel region, but no one capitulated. Ukrainians quickly left and continued to courageously resist the Russian aggression.
I think this fact took place, but you must not perceive Lukashenka as a victim. He knew perfectly well that there would be a war. Let's recall how many meetings between Putin and Lukashenka took place the day before. They met almost monthly after 2020. Lukashenka went to Moscow, Putin came to Minsk. The dictator knew perfectly well that there would be an attack on Ukraine.
The Editor-in-Chief of Charter97.org recalls that on the eve of the war, Lukashenka and regime officials deliberately and purposefully misled Ukrainians:
— Belarusian-Russian military exercises were held in Belarus. There were about 30,000 troops on the territory of the country. And then Uladzimir Makei, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, said that "the military will be withdrawn." Defence Minister Khrenin, as we know, called Defence Minister of Ukraine Reznikov and assured that there would be no attack.
That's why Lukashenka lied when he said he didn't know anything. He did not control the situation, but if he were against it, what prevented him from warning Ukraine? What prevented him from publicly protesting against the use of Belarusian territory by Russian troops? Instead, he loudly supports Russia. Claims to be Putin's ally. Hundreds of missiles were launched from the airspace of Belarus against Ukrainian territory. And now missiles and Shaheds are flying through Belarusian airspace. Russian conscripts were trained at all Belarusian training grounds, the authorities gave significant amounts of their weapons to Russia, the Belarusian defence industry is working for the Russian war against Ukraine. What other proof is needed that Lukashenka is a co-aggressor and must incur inevitable responsibility.
Natallia Radzina also drew attention to the fact that Lukashenka offered Zelensky "to strike at the Mazyr refinery." The Belarusian journalist believes that this is a manipulation:
— Lukashenka did not think that there would be retaliatory steps on the part of Ukraine. But I had a question: Why didn't they strike? Okay, not refineries but military facilities. Air bases and training grounds. After all, Ukraine had the right to strike at military facilities from which the aggression was committed. Maybe if it had been done, there would have been no Bucha, Borodyanka, Irpin tragedies. After all, the Russian army would be deprived of military, fuel and food support.
I constantly hear from Ukrainian officials that they did not want an escalation. That it was impossible to wage war on several fronts. It seems to me that if the dictator himself asks, then you should not refuse him. Moreover, Ukrainians had the right to do so.
Yevgeny Kiselev suggested that the Americans could ban strikes on Belarus for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Natallia Radzina believes that the West should have acted more decisively:
— If Lukashenka does not decide anything, then the Americans could warn Russia that in the event of an attack from Belarus, a missile strike on military facilities on Belarusian territory will follow. I think it would sober everyone up. And if there are "tedious discussions", of course, dictators become emboldened and go on the offensive while the entire democratic world "twiddles its thumbs".
The Editor-in-Chief of Charter97.org calls not to call the farce, which will take place on January 26, "elections":
— There are no elections in Belarus. What will happen on January 26 is just a bad performance that will not convince anyone that someone really voted for Lukashenka. The vast majority of Belarusians hate Lukashenka and do not accept him.
Since 2020, when we saw that more than a million Belarusians took to the squares in their cities, the number of Lukashenka's supporters has not increased, but only decreased. We know that the ongoing repression, threats of nuclear missiles, and daily hysterical outbursts are all about fear. After all, he understands that no one supports him. And these so-called elections will not change anything in Lukashenka's relations with the rest of the world. He will continue to be perceived as a pariah, as a dictator who seized power by force of arms, as a Putin puppet who is kept in power only thanks to the support of the Kremlin.
Changes in Belarus are inevitable. And for this you do not need to wait five years after the presidential "elections". Now I hear forecasts from experts on the topic of "what will happen in the next five years after the 'elections'". Stop thinking about these five-year plans, it's Soviet rudimentary thinking. Lukashenka does not have these five years. Changes may occur at any time. The Assad regime collapsed in 12 days. Who could have predicted this?
Can Putin find someone to replace Lukashenka? The Editor-in-Chief of Charter97.org believes that it is not worth making long-term forecasts about Putin's Russia, because serious problems await it:
— I do not believe in the stability of the Putin regime, let alone the Lukashenka regime. I do not believe in any negotiations, I do not believe in Trump, who will mediate and stop the war. I am sure that Trump's attempts to reconcile Putin with Zelensky will fail. Hard tools of pressure will have to be used against Russia. Ukraine will need to help with weapons and financially, and it will be necessary to add new sanctions to those imposed against Russia. In particular, to deprive Russia of oil revenues. This is the only way to stop the war.
How will they deprive Putin of oil revenues? There are a lot of tools. Sanctions against the shadow fleet, which began to be introduced, lower oil prices, negotiations or economic war with China and India, which today save Putin's economy and finance Russia's war against Ukraine. There is no other way. The Putin regime in Russia will collapse, and the Lukashenka regime in Belarus will collapse. But you don't have to wait for everything to rot in the Kremlin.
It will be like on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 88-89. When the USSR ceased to interfere in the internal affairs of other states, changes began in the countries of the socialist camp.
Will U.S. policy toward Belarus change during Trump's presidency? Natallia Radzina named the principles on which it should be based:
— The most important thing is that they support Ukraine and understand that Belarus is a separate state that should become sovereign and independent. The fate of Belarus today depends on the development of this war, which has been going on for 11 years.
Not everything in the US today depends on Trump. There is no need to worship him and wait for something. Everyone was shocked by his press conference. We simply underestimate the system of checks and balances that exists in the United States. Trump will not alone decide what will happen next with Ukraine and Russia.
Here I agree with Vitaly Portnikov, I listened to his broadcast on the Priamyi TV channel. He said that today it is necessary not to praise Trump, not to give him constant compliments, that he “will solve everything wisely”, but to organize pressure on him. On the part of the Democrats, on the part of the Republicans, because not all of them are Trumpists. That's the most important thing today. Trump, like Putin and Lukashenka, understands only the language of force. This force should be used against him. To say that the betrayal of Ukraine will be a betrayal of Europe and will lead to a new world war, in which the United States will not sit out, just as it did not sit out during the First and Second World Wars.
Let's see how he will act really. And he will have to act within the framework of the American democratic system. In relation to Russia, Trump will have to act harshly to create winner’s image.