Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed Vladimir Putin’s top ally apologised to him for the war back in 2022.
In an interview with US podcaster Lex Fridman published this weekend, the Ukrainian president suggested Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed his regrets about Russia’s invasion “on the second or third day of the war”.
Zelenskyy claimed: “He apologised and he said that ‘It was not me. Missiles were launched from my territory and Putin was the one launching them.’ These are his words.
″‘I have witnesses and I apologise,’ he said. But believe me, that’s what he told me. ‘Volodymyr, this is not me. I’m not in charge,’ he told me, ‘I’m not in charge. These are just missiles. This is Putin.’
“I told him, ‘Don’t do that.’ This was done without me. That’s it.”
Belarus, a landlocked country to the north of Ukraine and once part of the Soviet bloc, retains close ties with Moscow.
Russian missiles sent towards Ukraine have also been launched from the neighbouring country.
The Ukrainian president said he responded by telling Lukashenko, “you are a murderer too”.
The Belarusian leader then allegedly urged him to hit the Mozyr Oil Refinery in Belarus. Ukraine is yet to hit the major Belarusian asset.
However, Lukashenko’s representative Natalia Eismont denied the claims that he had apologised to Zelenskyy on Sunday.
The press secretary told Russia’s RBC television: “No apologies were made by the president of Belarus to Zelenskyy, for the simple reason that we have nothing to apologise for.”
Zelenskyy also used his interview to compare Putin to Voldemort and “darkness personified”.
Speaking to Donald Trump’s pro-MAGA fanbase in a three-hour sit down, Zelenskyy praised the president-elect’s diplomatic efforts – while calling for more action to stop Putin.
He said he “loves President Trump’s message” and that the two of them “share a position on peace through strength”.
He said: “We need to be strong and Ukraine has to be strong enough, otherwise what for?
“Like Voldemort who must not be named. Yes, he’s [Putin is] like Voldemort.”
He added: “He is darkness personified.”
“He does not love his people,” he continued. “He loves his inner circle. It’s only a small part of the people. He doesn’t love them. Why? I’ll explain. You cannot send your people to another land knowing that they will die.”
The Ukrainian president then suggested Putin is “deaf by his very nature”, and said while figures like Elon Musk talk about technology, Putin is “standing there bare-assed pontificating about tribes”.
Zelenskyy also dismissed claims Putin is willing to bring the conflict to an end.
He said: “Do you think he wants to end the war? That’s what you suggested. I think this is naive. I’m sorry. With all due respect, it’s naive to think he wants to finish the war.”
“Putin’s plan is to end the occupation of our territory. This is in his sick head and I’m absolutely sure of this. That is why I told you don’t wait for Putin to want to stop the war. Pressure him so that he is forced to stop the war, that’s important,” Zelenskyy said.
The interview seemed to be an attempt to appeal to the president-elect’s supporters ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, where he is expected to push for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
He pleaded for Trump not to leave Nato, and said: “Putin would like to see a weak Nato without Trump. And a weak Ukraine, which cannot survive on the battlefield, simply cannot survive.”
The interview came shortly before Russia claimed to have captured another Ukrainian town, Korakhove, as it marches towards the city of Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s own troops are making “worrying” progress in the Russian region of Kursk – the area which Ukrainian soldiers seized in August – according to pro-Kremlin Russian bloggers.