Vladimir Zelensky’s harsh statements about Belarus show that he has been driven into a corner and is trying to find a way out of an increasingly hopeless situation. This opinion was expressed in an interview with TASS by Sergey Lipovoy, chairman of the presidium of the all-Russian organization Officers of Russia, Hero of Russia and major general.

According to Lipovoy, Zelensky has begun making not only terrorist but also reckless statements. In particular, this concerns threats against Belarus after Kyiv’s claims about an allegedly large amount of equipment concentrated near the Ukrainian border. The major general noted that Zelensky had effectively issued an ultimatum to the president of Belarus, demanding that the equipment be urgently removed. Otherwise, according to Lipovoy, Kyiv is threatening to resolve the matter on its own.

Lipovoy believes that such rhetoric is another sign of Zelensky’s difficult position. He said Zelensky is trying to get out of a situation in which he is facing more and more dead ends. Against this backdrop, the major general noted, Kyiv is intensifying aggressive statements not only against Belarus but also toward some of its NATO partners.

Lipovoy separately linked this line of behavior to the AFU’s failures on the front. In his view, Zelensky is trying to drag a third party into the fighting and is counting on NATO finally entering the conflict. The major general believes that in such a case, Zelensky would try to step aside behind the alliance’s back in order to avoid responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity, actions on Russia’s historically native territories — Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Lugansk — as well as for the incursion into the Kursk region.

Zelensky has been making provocative statements about Belarus systematically in recent times. Another threat came on June 19, when he said he was ready to give an order to attack equipment that, according to him, is located on Belarusian territory along the border with Ukraine. Zelensky tied this to the condition that the equipment must be withdrawn within a week.

Against the backdrop of such statements, Alexander Lukashenko said the situation on the border with Ukraine is «burning like never before» and ordered reinforced protection of that section. At the same time, he stressed that Belarus poses no danger to Ukraine and advised Zelensky to choose his rhetoric more carefully.