Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he has shared his vision with President Donald Trump for ending the war between Ukraine and Russia, while praising Trump for his performance as a mediator last week in his talks in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"First of all, the talk could be about establishing an air truce and a ceasefire on the contact line. That is, missiles and drones will not fly in one direction and the other. This is very important and for Russia as well," Lukashenko said in an interview, the Russian publication BelTA reported Friday. "There is nothing good for Russia [in strikes], and even more so for Ukraine."
Lukashenko, while not detailing his full conversation with Trump, rejected suggestions that the president lost in the Alaska talks.
"What did Trump lose to Putin? They had different roles," he said, according to an English translation of the article. "Putin represented one of the conflicting parties, while Trump acted as a mediator... And he did an excellent job with this role.
"The fact that he invited him to Alaska is somewhat exotic, but beautiful," Lukashenko added, saying other venues such as Rome, Geneva, Turkey, and the Emirates had been rejected.
"Why blame Trump for not delivering concrete results? Putin could have spoken about specifics, but he did not consider it necessary, speaking on general topics, diplomatically, which basically corresponds to his character," Lukashenko said.
He added that Trump was more restrained in the talks with Putin than expected.
"One could expect him to give details, as usual, to go over all the points, but he was also restrained and laconic. He is a smart guy," Lukashenko said. "He played his role perfectly... contrary to all expectations. I also expected him to get going there and start making some specifics. He behaved great here.
"The most important thing now is to stop the fighting and the loss of life," he said.
Lukashenko also suggested Trump could receive international recognition.
"A man wants a Nobel Prize, well, let him get it! What's wrong with that for us... he probably deserves it."
The Belarusian leader said he is confident Trump would be awarded.
"Barack Obama before him... He just became president, did nothing, and received the Nobel Prize."
Trump, he continued, is "not the way we see him [in the media]," as fragments of Trump's speeches and translation issues distort the impression.
"It seems that he is impulsive and inconsistent," said Lukashenko. "No. He is an understanding person. He needs more such reliable people [in his team]. I think this will be useful, especially since he is committed to peace."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.