In a wide-ranging interview with the Dubai-based Al Arabiya network, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered a rare apology to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, for recent sharp remarks. Lukashenko had previously warned that Minsk knew Zelensky’s location and could strike, prompting a retort from Kyiv about 500 potential targets on Belarusian soil. “Maybe I overreacted,” Lukashenko said, quoting a local proverb: “As they sing, so they are mourned.” He urged Zelensky to be “more careful and cautious” but stressed that Belarus would not initiate military action. The conciliatory tone marked a departure from the bellicose rhetoric that has characterised exchanges between the two neighbours since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Lukashenko used the interview to call for a negotiated settlement, arguing that neither Russia nor Ukraine can achieve a decisive battlefield victory. “It is clear that victory on the battlefield is unrealistic for both sides,” he said, even as Russian forces continue to make incremental advances. The Belarusian leader, who has sought to improve ties with Washington, also signalled a willingness to meet US President Donald Trump, a move that would further complicate the diplomatic landscape. Viewed from Western capitals, the remarks suggest a cautious recalibration by a leader long seen as Moscow’s most dependable ally.

The most explosive claim, however, concerned the early weeks of the war. Lukashenko alleged that President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to withdraw from the outskirts of Kyiv in spring 2022 after being deceived by intermediaries from the Vatican and what he termed the “Jewish lobby” in Israel. According to Lukashenko, these actors claimed to speak on behalf of Zelensky and promised Ukraine was ready to sign a peace agreement. “If Russia had continued the offensive, neither Zelensky nor anyone else would have remained,” he said, but Putin made concessions in the hope of a settlement that never materialised. The account, which has not been independently verified, echoes a Kremlin narrative that the West sabotaged early peace talks, though it assigns blame to specific religious and ethnic channels rarely mentioned in official Russian discourse.

Lukashenko also detailed why Belarus has refrained from joining the conflict, despite serving as a staging ground for the initial Russian assault. He described the country as “an open book” for Ukrainian military planners, with at least 500 critical infrastructure sites vulnerable to retaliatory strikes. He said he had repeatedly discussed the matter with Putin, who agreed that Belarusian entry would cause “more harm than good” and risk drawing NATO into a wider war. Lukashenko warned that Ukraine’s “days will be numbered” if it refuses to compromise, yet his own posture—apologising to Kyiv while airing grievances about past deception—underscores the precarious balancing act Minsk must maintain between belligerents and an increasingly attentive West.