The President of Ukraine, speaking at Stanford University, answered the question of the Belarusians.
On September 3rd, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the faculty and students of Stanford University in California. One of the questions came from a woman who spoke Belarusian.
She said she is proud of Ukraine and tries to believe “that everything will work out for us, too,” and asked what the president of Ukraine would advise the Belarusians now at a time when “faith is being lost.”
Zelensky replied in Ukrainian. He thanked her for the question and said that he understood the Belarusian language perfectly – this, he said, is because the Belarusians and Ukrainians share a common history and generally understand each other, including understanding what’s going on in Belarus now.
“This path…” Zelensky thought for a moment. “I don’t wish you to go the way that Ukraine has gone, the people of Ukraine, the families who lost their lives fighting for the freedom of their people, for the freedom of their beautiful country.”
Zelensky noted that he has been to Belarus many times. And continued:
“I wish you the result – the same result that Ukraine got. It’s free, democratic, very free. You can see how free it is, even through us, I’m speaking here, in an open space.
That’s what I wish for you: to survive in this. And it will be your people, your faith, your language, your life, your art, stronger than any government. And there is no such thing as an eternal government. Long Live Belarus!”
On August 31, the president of Poland also addressed the Belarusians. He spoke about the anniversary of the legendary “Solidarity” trade union and told the Belarusian refugees to feel at home in Poland.
