The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, responded to questions from scientist and blogger Lex Friedman. In a published podcast, he stated that his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, had apologized to him for Russian strikes on Ukraine launched from Belarusian territory.
According to Zelensky, this occurred in the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He claims there are witnesses who heard Lukashenko say during a phone call with him:
"It’s not me, the missiles were launched from my territory, and they were launched by Putin. /.../I have witnesses, and I apologize. /.../ Vladimir, it's not me. I am not in command, I am not in command. It’s just missiles. It’s Putin".
"I told him: 'You are also a killer, I’m telling you directly,' Zelensky recounted to Friedman. 'He said to me: 'You must understand, you cannot fight the Russians.' I told him that we have never fought with them. I said: 'This is war. The missiles came from your land, from Belarus. How could you allow this?'" He responded: "'Okay, then strike back.' I still remember how he told me: 'Hit the oil refinery. You know how much it means to me.' The Mozyr Oil Refinery? I can’t recall. The Mozyr Oil Refinery. I asked him: 'What are you talking about? What kind of retribution?'
The Mozyr Oil Refinery in the Gomel region, which borders Ukraine, is the largest plant in Belarus. Like the Novopolotsk refinery, it is focused on Russian oil.
Lukashenko's press secretary, Natalia Eismont, denies that he apologized to Zelensky for the strikes on Ukraine from Belarus. According to her, the conversation between Lukashenko and Zelensky at the beginning of the full-scale invasion "occurred solely due to the emotional reaction of the Belarusian president's younger son, Nikolai, who had Zelensky's personal contact in his phone."
In the spring of last year, Alexander Lukashenko stated that he would respond to Ukraine tenfold if its drones attacked the Mozyr Oil Refinery. According to Lukashenko, he has information that the possibility of such a strike was discussed.
When Friedman asked about a possible meeting in January between Zelensky, U.S. President Trump, and Russian President Putin to sign a peace treaty, the President of Ukraine said:
"I think on January 25 or another day, we will first meet with Trump. We will discuss how we can stop the war and Putin. And Trump and I will come to an agreement. If he offers strong security guarantees, then after that, there may be a conversation with the Russians. And only then, not just immediately sitting down together."
Zelensky urged not to wait for Putin to be ready for peace, but to make him stop the war.
The podcast lasted about three hours.