"Lukashenko Is Caught Like A Pike In A Seine."
- 20.02.2026, 19:56
The story of the "Peace Council" had gone sideways for the ruler.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov did not get to the first meeting of the "Peace Council" in Washington. The official reason is that the U.S. side did not issue visas to the delegation, despite the timely submission of documents. The Foreign Ministry said that in such a case they see no point in talking about "peace." "Zerkalo" asked political analyst of the Pozirk news agency Alexandr Klaskovsky whether it was a simple bureaucratic hiccup.
Olexandr Klaskovsky has several versions of what happened. The first one is that the American side could have been bureaucratically sluggish in processing the documents. However, the expert considers this option the least convincing, given the status of the event (the initiative of President Donald Trump) and his personal experience.
- I myself had an episode in my biography in December 2008, when George Bush Jr. decided to hold a meeting with human rights activists and bloggers from authoritarian countries, - recalls Klaskovsky. - The notification that a person [from Belarus] was needed came to the American embassy at the last moment. They issued me a visa and a plane ticket in half an hour, and the next day I flew to Washington. So, when necessary, the subordinates of the American president work very quickly," notes Klaskowski.
And although the Belarusian Foreign Ministry claims that "all the necessary notifications were sent to the American protocol services in the prescribed manner, the documents <�...> were submitted in advance," the analyst does not rule out that there could be a hitch. Initially, Alexander Lukashenko himself was going to fly to Washington, and the replacement by Maxim Ryzhenkov happened too late.
- The Americans really may not have had time to issue visas for the delegation," Klaskovski argues. - Well, and why Lukashenko didn't fly - only a lazy commentator hasn't said it: because he was warned from Moscow, so to speak, "in a friendly manner" that he shouldn't go across Putin in this "Peace Council".
Another version, according to Klaskovsky, is the most unpleasant for the official Minsk. It is that Trump needed not Ryzhenkov, but a "respected president," to whom he gave cufflinks.
- This option is quite likely, and it shows that Lukashenko was caught like a pike in a net," says the analyst. - Because he was so eager to join this "Peace Council", even saying that he wants to make a big deal with Trump. This is an important moment for him. After all, Lukashenko, in my opinion, is still suffering from a complex of illegitimacy after 2020.
Alexander Klaskovsky also drew attention to the sharp tone of the statement of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. In the English version, the word "peace" was taken in quotation marks ("what 'peace' are we talking about?"). The analyst notes that this is uncharacteristic for diplomatic formulations.
- There is an obvious offense here. I think it's such an emotional decision - regardless of who gave the command for such formulations," says the expert.
Nevertheless, Klaskovsky believes that Minsk will not finally burn bridges in relations with Washington.
- Still, it seems to me that Lukashenko will try to keep the American track, even though the Kremlin doesn't like it very much. It is very important for him, he has already publicly actually promised Trump that he will try to make a big deal," summarizes Alexander Klaskovsky.