In a recent interview with the American television channel Newsmax TV, Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, characterized Vladimir Putin as a "wolfhound" in the realm of politics.
“He is indeed a normal person with excellent human qualities. But in politics, he acts like a wolfhound. He is a great leader who has been managing a large country for a long time. His abilities and desire for governance are worthy of envy, especially in the context of both domestic and foreign policy,” Lukashenko noted.
It is also worth paying attention to Putin's recent statements regarding Ukraine and its allies.
According to Putin, if Ukraine refuses to engage in a constructive dialogue, Russia will be forced to achieve its goals through military means, which he stated at an expanded meeting of the Ministry of Defense.
“We have tried to resolve the conflict through diplomatic measures. If the other side and its foreign allies refuse to engage in serious conversation, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands through armed actions,” he declared.
The President emphasized the importance of creating and expanding a security buffer zone, adding that the Russian army will consistently work on this task.
For the first time, Putin announced plans to create a "sanitary zone" along the borders in June 2023, and in May 2024, he confirmed the intention to establish such a zone in the Kharkiv region to protect against shelling of the border regions of Russia.
In March 2025, while at a military command post in the Kursk region, Putin proposed discussing the creation of a "security zone" along the border. At the end of May 2025, he reported that the Russian military was actively working on creating a "necessary buffer zone" to protect the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions.
Putin also noted that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia did not become an equal part of the European family but, on the contrary, found itself under pressure. “In the West, we realized that there is no civilization there, only complete degradation,” he added.
“We hoped that after the collapse of the USSR, we would quickly become members of the civilized family of European nations, but it turned out that this did not happen. In fact, we continued to feel pressure from all sides,” Putin noted.
According to him, most decisions regarding Russia were made from a position of strength. “We were invited to various events, but at the same time, the West pushed its interests through forceful methods,” he stated.
Putin also claims that the Biden administration and “European countries” sought to destroy Russia, hoping for gain. “They wanted to regain lost territories and take revenge,” he noted, adding that these attempts have failed.
“The West initiated the war in 2022, while Russia is merely trying to end it,” the president summarized.
