President of Belarus Lukashenko predicts Poroshenko's victory in Ukrainian elections
In an interview with Turkish news agency Anadolu, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who correctly predicted the winners of the first round of presidential elections in Ukraine, said that he believes that Petro Poroshenko will win in the second round of voting.
“After the first round of voting, Zelensky came out in the lead with Poroshenko lagging behind. No one can predict how the second round will end. I am still inclined to think that Poroshenko will win this presidential election,” the press service of the President of Belarus quoted Lukashenko.
“I know one very well. The other, I have seen only in the movies. I don’t know him as a politician. Based on my experience, I’ll tell you that Poroshenko and I once had a mutual friend: Mikheil Saakashvili. When, as acting president, Saakashvili orchestrated elections, changed the constitution, among other things – the people felt they were being played tricks on. This resulted in his having to flee Georgia to hide out in other countries. To avoid having to climb up to the rooftops and shouting out to the public for protection, Poroshenko will do everything to gain Ukrainian support. He should do everything to gain the support of the people,” said Lukashenko.
He noted that many of the people, who had voted for Zelensky in the first round of the election, did so in protest. Lukashenko believes that is the wrong approach.
“I hope the Ukrainian people can forgive me for saying that if there is no one to vote for, then there is no need to vote. Why vote for someone you’re not sure about? After all, Ukrainians have gone down such a difficult political path in recent years. They’ve already had their fill of unclear promises. They, taking many risks, believed in and supported their politicians. And it always came out backward. In recent years, the Ukrainian people have gathered enough evidence to know that it is not worth taking risks. If nothing works out, if there is nobody to vote for, it means elections will be repeated. I think this is better than taking another risk, voting and then bitterly regretting the outcome for the next ten years or more”, Lukashenko said.