UNITED NATIONS (Washington Insider Magazine)- According to the foreign minister of Belarus, the end of the Cold War 30 years ago was the primary cause of the conflict in Ukraine.
Vladimir Makei stated on Saturday before the U.N. General Assembly that there was no formal treaty in force at the time; rather, there was a “gentlemen’s agreement” that cleared the way for the West to consolidate its supremacy, in part through the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance.
Makei said that in their efforts to advance eastward, NATO and the West ignored the legitimate safety interests of both Russia and Belarus. He talked about how NATO was involved in what he called “illegal wars” in Libya, Yugoslavia, Syria, and Iraq, as well as how the Alliance was trying to intrude on the former Eastern Slavic and neighboring territories.
As a result, he argued, the entire West should take responsibility for the ongoing carnage in Ukraine, according to ABC NEWS.
Makei’s opinions are in line with those of Belarus’s ally, Russia, which is not unexpected. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, claims that NATO’s expansion of its boundaries poses the biggest security danger to his country. As a fundamental rationale for his action, Putin moved his first soldiers into Ukraine on February 24. He did so by pointing to the strengthening military ties between Kyiv and the West.
The dictatorial leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is good friends with Putin, which dissident Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya attributes to their same worldview.
According to her, Lukashenko was forced to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since Putin had supported him in the wake of widespread protests against the official 2020 election results that gave Lukashenko a 6th term with 80% of the vote. The results were denounced by many Belarusians and international observers as being rigged and that Tsikhanouskaya had won.
She told the AP on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that security dangers to Belarus’ western border as well as Ukraine’s would always exist.
But according to Makei, the issue is the West’s desire for power.
He criticized the ineffectiveness of the economic sanctions put in place against Russia by Western partners while also highlighting the harm he claims they have inflicted on other nations across the world by raising food and energy prices.
Makei offered Belarus as a means of mediating a broad strategic peace deal between Ukraine and Russia as he concluded his speech.
