The United States does not have a plan to resolve the war in Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday during talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“I can say for sure the Americans have no plan for the conflict in Ukraine. Absolutely none,” Lukashenko told reporters, according to state news agency Belta.
His comments came as U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow to present Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Kyiv has endorsed on the condition that Moscow also backs the plan.
Lukashenko dismissed the proposed ceasefire as an attempt to “probe the ground” and suggested Putin would find it “difficult” to accept, citing recent Russian battlefield advances, especially in the Kursk border region.
“It’s easier for them [Russia] on the front line, that’s why they have the big cards, as Trump said,” Lukashenko told reporters, adding that more U.S. sanctions would not sway Russia.
Just two weeks ago, Lukashenko praised Trump’s “brilliant” foreign policy and his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during their tense meeting at the White House late last month.
Putin has yet to publicly comment on the U.S. ceasefire proposal. Lukashenko said Putin planned to brief him on the U.S.-Ukrainian negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Putin’s top aide, Yuri Ushakov, told state media Thursday that the joint U.S.-Ukrainian initiative was a “hasty” move that “does not favor a long-term settlement.”
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