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DNR and LNR would be doomed without Russia, Lukashenka says

The days of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) would have been numbered a long time ago without Russia, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in Minsk on Friday while meeting with a large group of Russian journalists.

“Russia is simply forced to defend and support these territories for different reasons,” starting with the “personal image” and ending with “the most sacred thing—brothers are living there,” he said.

It was absolutely wrong to start the “war” in eastern Ukraine, Mr. Lukashenka said. However, “certain players in the international arena” needed it, he said. “Nobody will fight there apart from Russia, on the one side,” he said. “On the other, none of the global players would fight. For instance, America would never engage in a direct confrontation. But some states and blocs would be very interested to see us kill each other with our own hands.”

The “civilized” Slavic people should not kill each other, “almost for the first time in history,” Mr. Lukashenka warned. // BelaPAN