President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko says Russia and Ukraine are main sides in the war in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, and the settlement of the conflict is possible only athrough closer negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.
"Do not say that this is not the conflict of Russia and Ukraine. Yes, we should not ignore the leaders of the unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. They exist, we cannot ignore them. This is the matter of agreements. But the thing is that the main sides should take part in the resolution of this conflict and make a decision," he said at the Minsk Dialogue Forum on Tuesday, according to the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA).
Only then, there will be progress in the issue of security, he said.
Read alsoBelarusian President Lukashenko: Ukraine left alone with problem of Donbas
"Then there will be progress along the 400 km border [between Russia and Ukraine], and [local] elections will be held there, and certain militia will be created, and etc.," Russia's news agency TASS quoted Lukashenko as saying.
He also said that he had discussed this issue at a recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "No one will reproach the president of Ukraine for the lack of effort," Lukashenko added.
However, the Belarusian president believes that it will be impossible to resolve the conflict in Ukraine without the participation of the United States.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Lukashenko thinks Ukraine has been left alone with the problem of Donbas.
