Belarusian prime minister Aleksandr Lukashenko has warned that the world risks “global conflict” if the war between Russia and Ukraine continues.
“This conflict must be frozen,” he told The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax.
“The most dangerous thing is that this conflict will go on. And if the escalation is still there, the consequences might be very hard and very dangerous for Europe and for the entire world,” he said.
“It will escalate into a global conflict. That is why we must extinguish this conflict right now when we have the opportunity.”
It comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out a ceasefire by Christmas, saying Russia is likely to reject a new European-backed peace proposal and that Ukraine must be ready to continue fighting.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Zelensky said a final set of proposals would be completed within two days and handed by the United States to Moscow.
He said Kyiv expected the Kremlin to refuse the plan. Russia has already dismissed calls for a Christmas truce, insisting any pause must meet its demands.
Belarusian prime minister Aleksandr Lukashenko has commented on US president Donald Trump’s role in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, saying that the American leader cannot fix the conflict “alone”.
“If it depended only on Trump, then the war probably would already be over,” the leader told The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax.
“But we have two conflicting parties, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and also us being dragged into the conflict because we are living at the border with these two countries.
“This is a multilateral process, and Trump alone won’t be able to resolve this issue.
“This conflict must be frozen. We must stop the deaths of people and then we can talk about everything.”
Lukashenko warned that the war could break into global conflict if it is not stopped.
“The most dangerous thing is that this conflict will go on. And if the escalation is still there, the consequences might be very hard and very dangerous for Europe and for the entire world.
“It will escalate into a global conflict,” he explained.
“That is why we must extinguish this conflict right now when we have the opportunity.”
Trump can’t solve Russia-Ukraine conflict ‘alone’, says Belarus PM
Belarusian prime minister Aleksandr Lukashenko has commented on US president Donald Trump’s role in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, saying that the American leader canno fix the conflict “alone”.
“If it depended only on Trump, then the war probably would already be over,” the leader told The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax.
“But we have two conflicting parties, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and also us being dragged into the conflict because we are living at the border with these two countries.
“This is a multilateral process, and Trump alone won’t be able to resolve this issue.
“This conflict must be frozen. We must stop the deaths of people and then we can talk about everything.”
Europe must be responsible for its own security, says von der Leyen
European Union Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has insisted that Europe must be responsible for its own security.
In an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, she said that Europe “cannot afford to let others define its worldview”.
“This is no longer an option. It is a must,” she said.
Referring to the US National Security Strategy that reported that Europe is on the decline, she agreed that its share of global GDP was reducing but said America is on “the same path”.
Moment Ukrainian forces hit $400m Russian submarine using underwater drones for first time
The Ukrainian military says it has blown up a $400m Russian submarine in an unprecedented attack on the Russian navy’s most important remaining Black Sea base located in Novorossiysk.
“As a result of the explosion, the submarine suffered critical damage and was effectively put out of action,” the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement alongside footage of the attack on Monday.
Russia has acknowledged the attack, executed by the Sub Sea Baby underwater drones on the Russian Kilo-class attack submarine. But Moscow denied any damage to its ships or submarines despite the apparent size of the blast, CNN reports.
What does the establishment of claims commission mean
The establishment of the claims commission does not mean Ukrainians can expect swift reparations for damages.
Details on how any damages awarded by the commission, to be based in the Netherlands, would be paid still need to be worked out.
Early discussions have touched on using Russian assets frozen by the EU, supplemented by member contributions.
“The goal is to have validated claims that will ultimately be paid by Russia. It will really have to be paid by Russia; this commission offers no guarantee for the damages,” Dutch foreign minister David van Weel said.
The two-year-old Register of Damage, which will become part of the claims commission, has already received over 86,000 claims submitted by individuals, organisations and public bodies in Ukraine under a wide range of categories.
Russian officials were not immediately reachable to comment on the commission.
The Kremlin denies accusations of war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine. It has also described the EU’s proposal to use immobilised Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s defence and budget needs as illegal and threatened retaliation.
European states move to create body to rule on Ukraine war reparations
Europe launched an International Claims Commission for Ukraine on Tuesday in an effort to ensure Kyiv is compensated for hundreds of billions of dollars in damage from Russian attacks and alleged war crimes.
The gathering in The Hague of dozens of leaders including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky coincided with a US-orchestrated diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine that was triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“Every Russian war crime must have consequences for those who committed them,” Zelensky said, before 34 European leaders signed a convention to formally launch the commission at Tuesday’s gathering in The Hague.
“That’s exactly where the real path to peace begins,” he added. “It’s not enough to force Russia into a deal. It’s not enough to make it stop killing. We must make Russia accept that there are rules in the world.”
Zelensky says new ‘Trump peace plan’ will be ready in days – but Moscow is already pushing back
The Ukrainian president left Germany confident that proposals negotiated with the US would soon be finalised after receiving crucial security guarantees from his European allies and Washington.
Read this report by James C Reynolds:
Russia rejects Christmas truce proposed by Germany
Russia has dismissed the idea of a truce over the festive period, after Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested a Christmas ceasefire could be “the beginning of peace” in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed Russia wants a comprehensive peace deal, not a temporary truce.If Ukraine seeks “momentary, unsustainable solutions, we are unlikely to be ready to participate,” he said.
“We want peace – we don’t want a truce that would give Ukraine a respite and prepare for the continuation of the war,” Pescov told reporters.
“We want to stop this war, achieve our goals, secure our interests, and guarantee peace in Europe for the future.”
“If the Ukrainians’ desire to substitute reaching a deal with short-term, unviable solutions begins to dominate, then we are unlikely to be willing to participate,” he added.
Zelensky said both Kyiv and the US backed Merz’s proposal for a Christmas ceasefire but made clear it would also need the Kremlin’s involvement to be viable.
“The United States supports this idea. I, as president, certainly support this idea,” he said.
He added that Ukraine was open to different formats for a ceasefire, including limits on attacks on energy infrastructure during the bitter mid-winter.
“We will support any ceasefire,” Zelensky said, while cautioning that its implementation would ultimately “depend on Russia’s political will.”
Zelensky rejects compromise on Ukraine’s territorial integrity
Volodymyr Zelensky has again ruled out recognising Moscow’s control over any part of the Donbas, an economically important region in eastern Ukraine made up of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Russia’s army doesn’t fully control either province, but Donald Trump has previously indicated that Ukraine will have to cede them to Moscow.
“The Americans are trying to find a compromise,” Zelensky said, before visiting the Netherlands on Tuesday.
“They are proposing a ‘free economic zone’ (in the Donbas). And I want to stress once again: a ‘free economic zone’ does not mean under the control of the Russian Federation.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin wants all the areas in four key regions that his forces have seized, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognised as Russian territory.
Zelensky warned that if Putin rejects diplomatic efforts, Ukraine expects increased Western pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and additional military support for defence, such as enhanced air defence systems and long-range weapons.
Zelensky said his officials want Russia to be “held accountable for what it has done – for this war, for all the killings, for all the suffering”.
Ukraine and the US are preparing up to five documents related to the peace framework, several of them focused on security, Zelensky said.
He was upbeat about the progress in the Berlin talks.
“Overall, there was a demonstration of unity,” Zelensky said. “It was truly positive in the sense that it reflected the unity of the US, Europe, and Ukraine.”
Agreement on ‘strong security guarantees’ could be finalised soon, says Zelensky
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky say a proposed deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year invasion could be finalised within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before possible further meetings in the US.
A draft peace plan discussed with the US during talks in Berlin on Monday is “not perfect” but is “very workable,” Zelensky told reporters hours after the discussions.
He cautioned, however, that some key issues – notably what happens to Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces – remain unresolved.
US-led peace efforts appear to be picking up momentum. But as the spotlight shifts to Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin may balk at some of the proposals thrashed out by officials from Washington, Kyiv and Western Europe, including postwar security guarantees for Ukraine.
Zelensky said that after the Berlin talks, “we are very close to (a deal on) strong security guarantees.”
Source: independent.co.uk