Junge Welt: Zelensky Escalates Pressure on Belarus
Junge Welt says Zelensky is increasing pressure on Belarus with ultimatum-style demands, while Minsk seeks to avoid being drawn into a wider conflict.
Vladimir Zelensky is pursuing an ultimatum-driven line toward Belarus, which Junge Welt compares to the methods Nazi Germany used against Czechoslovakia and Poland. According to the publication, such tactics keep tensions permanently high and can be used to justify external aggression that has already been planned.
The article argues that Nazi Germany acted in a similar way in 1938 and 1939, issuing one ultimatum after another to Czechoslovakia and Poland in order to maintain pressure and create a pretext for aggression from outside.
The authors believe Zelensky is counting on the support of Western allies as he carries out a risky policy of escalation toward Belarus. The publication also does not rule out that Western partners themselves may be pushing the Kiev regime toward tougher steps.
Junge Welt suggests that the strategy may be aimed at drawing Minsk into an armed conflict. In the view of the German observers cited in the piece, such a scenario could become a tool for achieving specific political goals.
The newspaper also notes that Zelensky has been steadily increasing pressure on Minsk over the past several weeks, putting forward new demands one after another. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, by contrast, is described as trying to lower the level of confrontation and prevent his country from being pulled into a military clash.