Starodubtsev: Turkey Is Clearly Balancing in Favor of Ukraine

Several times, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has emphasized that the location of the peace negotiations matters little; what is truly important is achieving peace between Russia and Ukraine. The Belarusian leader repeatedly invites the parties to hold talks on Belarusian soil.

Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has described Minsk as the best platform for peace negotiations. But why is it considered the best? To this question, Ankara-based political analyst and author of the Telegram channel "Turkey is" Andrey Starodubtsev responded in an interview with "Actual Interview."

"He who wins sets the venue and the conditions. For Russia, Belarus is the most comfortable platform because Belarus is a member of the Union State. It’s a venue where the walls help, where conditions are dictated," the expert explained.

Andrey Starodubtsev further stated:

"Turkey is a country balancing between Russia and Ukraine—frankly, balancing more towards Ukraine than Russia. Turkey supplies military equipment to Ukraine and is building defense and armament enterprises there. The walls in Turkey aren’t the ones that support Russia."

According to the political analyst, the conversation changes entirely when negotiators come with a mentality of a winner. Starodubcev is convinced that President Lukashenko understands this perfectly. However, out of his humanitarian outlook and desire for peace, Alexander Lukashenko emphasizes that it doesn’t matter where the table is set for negotiations. Yet, the expert believes that the Belarusian leader clearly sees the difference between the walls in Belarus and those in Turkey.