This is an excerpt from the official Kremlin transcript of comments made by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko during an April 12th joint press conference with Putin. Overall, he comments on the reasonableness of the “special military operation” taken by Putin. I have bolded the part that pertains to Bucha. – Natylie

There have never been such dangerous and complicated periods in the modern history of our relations with the West. I pointed this out when we discussed the issue that everyone is talking about today; I pointed this out to Mr President, and I said this for a reason, that if Russia had taken even a bit longer to start its military operation, a blow they believed to be crushing would have been delivered at the adjacent regions. We can clearly see today that this was more than possible.

Therefore, those who say that it was the wrong move or that it was made in the wrong place and at the wrong time should weigh it against the potential consequences of what would have happened had this move been made a month or even two weeks later. There is nothing more to add.

It is like the story in Bucha; we discussed that policy. There is a lot of commotion, but they just needed to adopt a new package of sanctions, as we know very well. We discussed their special operation today, the psychological operation carried out by the British. If you want to know the addresses, the secret meeting places, the licence plate numbers, the brands of vehicles they used in Bucha, and how they did it, the FSB of Russia can provide this information. If not, we can help. We exposed that ugly, disgusting position of the West together with our Russian friends, in full and from the beginning to the end.

Back then, we decided that the cold war was over, that the page had been turned and we would live in a new, civilised and fair world based on mutual understanding and the rule of international law. This is what we thought, but the West thought differently. They did not destroy us back then, and so they have decided to do it now. We are in an extremely dangerous situation; it is a showdown, and it did not appear out of thin air. Washington and Brussels have been deliberately moving towards this for years. It is perfectly clear now that, regrettably, the clash could not be avoided. Moreover, as I said before, it was only a matter of time and place. I would like to stress again that if we had waited a little longer, the consequences would have been extremely severe.

Read full transcript here.

Professor Petro explores the very important question of how Ukraine might eventually achieve a long-term peace.

Jacques Baud is the author of the article, The Military Situation in the Ukraine, which has been making the rounds. He is a Swiss intelligence officer and a former senior UN official and NATO advisor in Ukraine.

by RT, 4/11/22

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer walked away from his meeting on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin convinced that sanctions aren’t weakening the Kremlin’s determination to resolve the Donbass crisis before ending the military offensive in Ukraine.

“He clearly confirmed that the sanctions are tough for Russia but the situation in Donbass, as he said, must be, so to say, resolved, despite the sanctions – even if they are quite tangible,” Nehammer told reporters following the meeting at Putin’s residence outside Moscow, as cited by Tass.

The talks marked Putin’s first in-person meeting with an EU leader since the Russian attack on Ukraine began in February. While Nehammer had said he hoped to “build bridges” by traveling to Moscow, he told reporters afterward that “I generally have no optimistic impression that I can report to you from this conversation with President Putin.”

After pulling back its forces from around Kiev, Russia is preparing an offensive in eastern Ukraine “on a massive scale,” Nehammer claimed. Putin sees the war as necessary to defend Russian national security and mistrusts an international community that he considers “one-sided,” the chancellor said.

Nehammer said the meeting wasn’t “a visit of friendship,” adding that the conversation was “direct, open and hard.” He said he told Putin that alleged war crimes in Ukraine must be investigated to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

Another topic discussed was the fact that anti-Russia sanctions will remain in place and intensify “as long as people keep dying in Ukraine,” Nehammer said. He also called for humanitarian corridors to be set up to bring food and water to besieged towns and evacuate women, children and injured people.

“I will now inform our European partners about the conversation and discuss further steps,” the chancellor said.

Russia has denied committing war crimes, saying Ukrainian officials had made false allegations to manipulate international public opinion.

The Donbass conflict goes back to the Western-backed overthrow of Ukraine’s elected leadership in 2014. Largely Russian populations in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk areas opposed the coup and declared their independence from Kiev, leading to seven years of fighting between government forces and separatists.

Russia officially recognized the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics as sovereign nations in February, two days before launching its military offensive against Ukraine. Putin accused Ukraine of committing genocide against ethnic Russians in the Donbass – a crisis that Western nations ignored for years. He cited Ukraine’s refusal to abide by terms of the Minsk agreements, which were meant to end bloodshed in the Donbass, as one of the reasons for ordering a military solution.