Lukashenko says that Putin “wasn’t ready to push the nuclear button”

President Vladimir Putin of Russia would never use nuclear weapons, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. He made this statement in an interview with Mario Nawfal, the host of the largest show on X (formerly Twitter), as reported by the BeLTA news agency.

«Putin wasn’t in a situation where there was a need to push the nuclear button. I don’t think so. At least, he has never mentioned that he was ready for such radical measures. He wasn’t ready, I suppose. He was as ready to push the nuclear button as you were in the U.S., the U.K. and France. I know that you weren’t ready and Putin wasn’t ready either,» BeLTA reported, citing Lukashenko.

The Belarusian president also revealed that Putin regretted the escalation of the conflict with Ukraine into a full-scale war, emphasizing that the Russian leader allegedly hadn’t expected it.

«He wanted to make a deal when he saw the consequences. This is why he was sorry, I believe because he saw that this had turned into a full-scale conflict — a war — something he hadn’t quite expected,» the speaker highlighted.

At the conclusion of his interview, Lukashenko invited Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron to Minsk for peace negotiations.

Last year, many media outlets reported that Russia was militarily and technically prepared to unleash a nuclear war, citing President Putin. In an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency, he stated that despite Russia’s nuclear capabilities, strikes on Ukraine weren’t necessary. At the same time, CNN, citing its sources in the U.S. government, reported that the U.S. had been carefully preparing for a potential Russian nuclear attack on Ukraine since late 2022. This information was later confirmed by sources from the White House and The New York Times.