Lukashenko's call for talks is Putin's veiled offer to end war - political analyst

Executive Director of the Institute of World Policy Yevhen Mahda stated this on the Espreso TV channel.

"Lukashenko's proposals that ‘let's stop it’ are actually Vladimir Putin's veiled proposals to stop the fighting. Anyone who has seen the look on Putin's face over the past week understands that he really doesn't like what is happening. He sounds so indignant: ‘How can you invade Russian territory?’ I mean, you know, like in the joke: ‘Why us?’ Putin needs a formally independent Belarus. This formal independence does not reduce the controllability, but it forces the civilised world to comply with international law," he said.

"We need to closely monitor the situation around Lukashenko. If he dies a physical death, he will be replaced by an even more pro-Russian politician," Mahda said.

"Lukashenko has already been physically ill twice, in May last year and in July this year. It could be some kind of chronic illness, I can't say whether it's the consequences of the Kremlin's ‘bear hug’. But I'm sure that if the Russians find a way to eliminate him in the literal sense, and Lukashenko dies not a political death but a physical one, he will not be replaced by a democratic politician. It will not be Tikhanovskaya who will come. She will not be able to enter Belarus before the change of power. It will be an even more pro-Russian politician. They will be able to take the helm and order Belarusians to go to Ukraine and attack it," he added.

• On August 15, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that the West does not want peace in Ukraine.