Belarus backs Russia's position on peaceful settlement of crisis in Ukraine - Lukashenko

13:10, 03.12.2014 1 min read

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus fully supports Russia's position on the peaceful settlement of the situation in Ukraine.

"Russia does not consider itself a party to the conflict in Ukraine and is trying to convince the Ukrainian authorities to commit to dialogue, in this case, with the administrations of the Luhansk and Donetsk republics. There is a need for dialogue, the death of children and old people, innocent citizens must stop. And I absolutely support Russia's position on that," Lukashenko said while meeting with the Belarusian government on Wednesday.

Lukashenko reiterated that he considers attacks on populated areas to be unacceptable.

"If they want to fight to exchange fire, I think they have the Donetsk airport for that. Let them gather there and shoot each other. However, it's unacceptable to open fire on populated areas, where innocent people live," Lukashenko said.