Volodymyr Zelenskiy is unlikely to become Ukraine’s President after the second round of the elections on April 21, the Belarusian leader believes.
“I still seem to think that Poroshenko will win the presidential elections. I know very well one of the candidates. I have seen the other only in films, I do not know him as a politician. But from my experience I can tell you that once Poroshenko and I had a friend – [Mikheil] Saakashvili. When Saakashvili was holding elections as President (of Georgia), he amended constitution, took other steps, i.e. got involved in clouding the waters, which resulted in his leaving Georgia and hiding in other countries.” Lukashenka said in an interview with Turkey’s news agency Anadolu.
According to Lukashenka, many Ukrainians voted for Zelenskiy to voice their protest against other politicians.
“I hope Ukrainians forgive me, but I want to tell them: if there is no one you would like to cast their vote for, you should not vote at all. Why should you vote for a person you cannot rely on? Over the last years, Ukrainians have gone through so many difficulties. They are fed up with ill-defined promises. They have repeatedly taken risks when believing politicians and supporting them,” he stressed.
In his opinion, the Ukrainian nation’s recent experience should make them decide against taking risks.
“It seems to me it [rerunning elections] is better than taking risks, voting and then bitterly repenting for ten years or more,” Lukashenka said.
Presidential candidates Volodymyr Zelenskiy and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko received 30.24% and 15.95% of votes cast on March 31, respectively, according to Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC). The two candidates will square off in the second round on April, 21.
