“American officials may have thought they could find a way to help the overweight 71-year-old head of state.”, — write: www.unian.ua
American officials may have thought they could find a way to help the overweight 71-year-old head of state.
The USA is thinking about supplying Lukashenka with such slimming drugs, journalists write / UNIAN collage, photo pexels, WikipediaDuring the meeting between the American envoy and the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, the issue of lifting sanctions was raised, and the Belarusian leader asked the American if he had lost weight, writes The Wall Street Journal.
“It was a moment of intimacy in one of the strangest diplomatic initiatives since Trump’s return to power. Lukashenko wanted Washington to ease sanctions against some of his country’s most profitable companies – and repair his presidential plane,” the article said.
Instead, Lukashenko was ready to exchange the only resource he had enough of, namely political prisoners. If Cole succeeds, it could be a test run for the Trump administration’s main goal of bringing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his country’s $2 trillion economy out of isolation, according to the WSJ.
“And perhaps the American officials thought, it is possible to find a way to help the 71-year-old head of state, who is overweight and wants to lose weight. They decided to consider the possibility of organizing the supply of Zepbound for Lukashenka’s personal use,” the publication added.
After meeting with Lukashenka, Cole said his efforts to forge a personal relationship with the Belarusian leader are intended to show Trump’s approach to world leaders the West finds odious.
“It’s really Trump-style. Who the hell you talk to, if that person can give you what you want, that’s all that matters,” remarked a representative of the US president.
The WSJ recalled that last month Lukashenko, who calls himself “the last and only dictator in Europe”, released 123 prisoners, including Nobel laureate Oles Bilyatsky and opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova.
It is noted that since Trump took office, Belarus has released more than 250 prisoners from more than 10 countries, including at least five who have American citizenship. As the WSJ notes, this is one of the largest releases of political prisoners since the fall of communism.
“Instead, the US is throwing an economic lifeline to his regime, one of the most repressive in the world. Washington lifted sanctions on potash, a key ingredient in fertilizers and an important source of hard currency for Belarus, the third-largest producer after Canada and Russia. The Trump administration also agreed to supply Boeing with software and spare parts for the state-owned Belavia airline. As an added bonus, the presidential plane will receive some long-needed repairs,” they emphasize. in the material.
Now the Trump administration is hoping that Belarus will serve as an example of the reward that Putin could also receive if Russia helps the US end the war in Ukraine peacefully.
“In the end, Putin will find himself in a situation where he will have to make a very difficult decision. It is important that the person he knows best and whom he trusts the most speaks positively about the agreement,” said one American official in a comment for journalists.
In turn, the WSJ summarized:
“Lukashenka’s unofficial channel, which was told by more than a dozen current and former US and European officials, including several negotiators, has become an integral part of the talks led by Trump’s golf partner Steve Witkoff to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.”
Lukashenko and the war in Ukraine – the latest newsEarlier, the Belarusian dictator distinguished himself with a threatening statement regarding Ukraine. In particular, he threatened to make Ukraine disappear from the world map if the war continued.
“If Ukraine believes that it can defeat Russia and is ready to wage war, then let it fight. But, in my opinion, and I think that Trump adheres to such a position, if we continue to fight like this, then Ukraine will disappear from the map altogether, will cease to exist altogether,” Lukashenko emphasized.
The leader of Belarus also explained why Trump still hasn’t ended the war in Ukraine. He believes that if it depended only on the US president, the war would have ended a long time ago.
“There are two more conflicting parties here – Russia and Ukraine. And we have also been added there, Belarus, we are bordering on this conflict, and we also do not care how events will develop there and how it will end. That is why it is a multilateral process. And Trump alone will not solve this issue,” he added.
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