English

Referendums in eastern Ukraine mean nothing from legal standpoint

The recent “self-rule” referendums in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces bear no significance from a legal viewpoint, Alyalsandr Lukashenka said in an interview broadcast Wednesday by Dozhd, a Russian independent television channel, BelaPAN said.

“I do not even say under what conditions the referendums were held,” the Belarusian leader noted.

“Any referendum should be conducted on the basis of the constitution,” he stressed.

When asked whether the organizers of the referendum could be called separatists, Mr. Lukashenka said: “This is a matter of taste. Some like to call them separatists, but I would like to say that too many stupid things have been done in Ukraine. I know very well, better than anyone in Russia, what is going on in Ukraine, for many reasons and through many channels. People have been stupefied. People have gone crazy. They do not understand what is going on. Federalization, decentralization, eurointegration and so on. Putin was right to suggest that they should meet with those so-called separatists, talk to them and find out what they want. They [current Ukrainian authorities] should not make the same mistake as [ousted President Viktor] Yanukovych.”

According to Mr. Lukashenka, Ukraine will not have a national leader and will be in chaos. “In such a situation, there should be a leader who would say what to do and everyone would follow him,” Mr. Lukashenka noted.

He stressed that he advocated a united Ukraine and he had told Vladimir Putin about that.
Nothing similar to what has happened in Ukraine can ever occur in Belarus under any circumstances, “at least until I am president,” Mr. Lukashenka said.