Russia-Ukraine War 'Beneficial for Americans,' Belarusian President Claims

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Western countries pushed Ukraine into war with Russia and that the conflict benefits the U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the support of Belarus, launched an internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The assault came after weeks of warnings from President Joe Biden and European leaders that a Russian attack was imminent.

In a bid to justify the unprovoked invasion, Putin absurdly claimed that Ukraine was led by "neo-Nazis" and needed to be "denazified." In reality, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who won election in 2019 with nearly three-quarters of the vote, is Jewish and had family members die in the Holocaust genocide orchestrated by the Nazis during World War II. When Zelensky was elected, Ukraine's prime minister was also Jewish.

Speaking to Japan's TBS, Lukashenko blamed the West for Putin's actions, Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported on Saturday. "The West pushed them toward this war," the Belarusian leader claimed. Lukashenko has been in power for nearly two decades and has been described by analysts as "Europe's last dictator."

"The war can end very quickly if he [Biden] makes a phone call, if the U.S. takes a position in favor of the establishment of peace on Ukrainian soil. However, he is unlikely to make a call like that. The reason is that the current situation in Ukraine is beneficial for the Americans. This is what America needs," Lukashenko claimed in the interview.

Ahead of Russia's invasion, U.S. and Western European officials held multiple meetings with top Moscow leaders attempting to find a diplomatic solution to prevent the assault. Putin pushed forward with the attack anyway, lying to the Russian public about the motivation for the military operation.

In the wake of the assault on Ukraine, Russia has cracked down on anti-war demonstrators—with more than 14,000 being arrested, according to independent monitoring group OVD-Info. The government in Moscow has also banned media organizations from using the words "war" and "invasion" to describe the assault on Ukraine. Those protesting the war could face up to 15 years in prison.

The U.S., Canada and Western European allies have responded with harsh sanctions targeting the Russian and Belarusian economies as well as Moscow elites—including Putin and other government officials. The Biden administration and its allies have also quickly transferred billions of dollars in weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as the nation continues to fight back the Russian aggression.

In a landmark United Nations General Assembly vote on March 2, 141 nations voted to condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine. Just four nations—Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea—voted against the resolution along with Russia.

Biden has called Putin a "murderous dictator" after media reports, images and videos have documented Russian attacks against civilians throughout Ukraine. The Russian president is "a murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine," Biden said Thursday.

Meanwhile, Russian leaders continue to push propaganda against Ukraine and even argue that they did not attack their Eastern European neighbor. "We are not planning to attack other countries. We didn't attack Ukraine in the first place," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed on Thursday.

Newsweek reached out to the State Department and the White House for comment.