Lukashenko: Recognition of DPR, LPR will be joint decision with Russia

After the Russian Duma council voted in favor of a draft resolution recognizing the Lugansk and Donetsk republics and the independence of Donbas, the Belarusian President Alexader Lukashenko has divulged that any decision to recognize the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk People's Republics (LPR) will be a joint decision with Russia.

In response to a question, Lukashenko said Belarus "will negotiate with Putin on how we should act so that it would benefit both Russia and Belarus."

Lukashenko stated that if the Ukrainian government had intended to terminate the violence in the Donbas area, it would have done so by now.

"What we can do? We have President [Vladimir] Putin, we have President [Volodymyr] Zelensky, [Belarus] will do whatever they want. There is only one goal - peace in the Donbas region. We are ready to do everything [for it]", Lukashenko said.

The conflict in the Donbas region between the Ukrainian government and the unilaterally declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk has been ongoing since 2014, and negotiations were held within the Minsk agreements to find a political solution to the conflict.

However, the agreement has not been adhered to and clashes continue at sporadic times, and Moscow has repeatedly stated that Kiev "does not abide by the Minsk agreements and delays negotiations to resolve the conflict."