Kyiv, March 28 (Navigator, Mikhail Ryabov) – During the entry of Russian troops into Crimea, the Ukrainian authorities and military on the peninsula behaved as if they did not consider the autonomy their land.
This was stated by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on the air of the Ukrainian “First National” TV channel.
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“Yes, indeed, de facto this is the territory of Russia... Moreover, practically by their actions the current leadership of Ukraine admitted that this is not their territory. That’s how human it is, why didn’t you fight if this is your land?” - he said.
According to Lukashenko, nothing like this could happen in Belarus.
If the military behaved in the Ukrainian way - like mice under a broom - I would go to fight alone... They had to defend their land... I don’t want to be accused of bloodthirstiness, but how can you do otherwise if your land is taken away from you? Calmly, folding their paws, half surrendered, half were calmly taken out of Crimea. Isn’t this a de facto recognition that Crimea is at least not the territory of Ukraine?” – said the Belarusian president.
“This will make Russia’s fate easier in the future... She can say directly that the behavior of the Ukrainian authorities and military in Crimea indicates that this is not their land,” he added again.
Lukashenko does not consider the arguments that, in the event of resistance in Crimea, the Russian army could launch a blitzkrieg on Kyiv, to be adequate. He recalled that after the collapse of the USSR, the Ukrainian army was the strongest compared to other republics.
“Let them (the Ukrainian leadership - ed.) amuse and reassure themselves. Where is this Ukrainian army that was supposed to protect? ...Couldn’t they stop 10 thousand on a narrow isthmus? What kind of state is this then? ...If so, then there is no need for such a state,” Lukashenko said.
“Does Russia not care whether someone recognizes Crimea or not as part of it? There were precedents. You see how the West behaves. And Russia put forward very powerful counter-arguments. Russia would never have moved to Crimea if there were no reasons or at least a pretext for this,” the president added, noting that Moscow should now pursue “a very careful, balanced, without euphoria policy” in Crimea.