On June 15, 2026, Alexander Lukashenko gave an interview to Al Arabiya and once again did what he does best: tried to cover for Putin where the facts have long diverged from the Kremlin’s legend. This time, in his version, the Russian army did not fail under Kyiv in the spring of 2022, did not encounter Ukrainian resistance, and was not forced to retreat.
No.
It was allegedly ‘deceived.’
And among those who, according to Lukashenko, supposedly participated in this ‘deception,’ unexpectedly appeared the Vatican, the ‘Jewish lobby,’ and ‘Israelis.’ Russian media conveyed his phrase that these forces allegedly spoke on behalf of Volodymyr Zelensky: ‘all right, we are going for peace, we agree.’
For Israel, this is not a trivial detail. This is not just another rudeness of the Minsk dictator and not an ordinary attempt to please Moscow.
This is a dangerous construct: Israel is being dragged into someone else’s war as a convenient scapegoat for the Russian failure.
Lukashenko does not explain the war — he saves Moscow’s version.
In the spring of 2022, Russian troops were standing under Kyiv. This was the first and loudest calculation of the Kremlin: to quickly break Ukraine, take the capital, force the country to capitulate, and show the world that resistance is futile.
But Kyiv did not fall.
Ukraine stood firm. The Russian army retreated. After Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, and the destroyed cities, it became clear: this is not about a ‘peace operation,’ but about a big war that Russia brought to Ukrainian soil.
This is the fact that Lukashenko is trying to cover up.
He cannot say: ‘Russia could not.’ He cannot say: ‘Ukraine held out.’ He cannot say: ‘Putin made a mistake.’ Therefore, another version appears — not defeat, but ‘deception.’ Not the army’s failure, but ‘intrigue of intermediaries.’ Not Ukrainian resistance, but supposedly someone’s secret game.
And here Israel is inserted into the frame.
Not a specific official. Not an official document. Not a negotiation record. Not a public government decision.
Just — ‘Jewish lobby, Israelis.’
Such a formula does not clarify the story. It obscures it. And it does so exactly as needed for propaganda: the fewer facts, the more room for hints.
Why this sounds especially alarming for Israel
Lukashenko could have said: there were negotiations, there were intermediaries, there were contacts, there were different channels. At the beginning of the big war, there were indeed diplomatic attempts to stop the carnage. Israel then cautiously maintained contact with both Kyiv and Moscow because Israel had its own security issues, Syria, Russian presence in the region, Jewish communities, and the Ukrainian direction.
But diplomatic contact is not ‘deception of Russia.’
Mediation is not a guarantee of Ukraine’s capitulation.
Talks about peace are not proof that Israel or ‘Israelis’ forced Putin to withdraw troops from Kyiv.
Lukashenko substitutes meaning. He takes the complex diplomatic background of 2022 and turns it into a convenient Kremlin myth: Moscow was supposedly ready for peace, but was deceived again.
For the Israeli audience, the vocabulary itself is important here. When a dictator speaks not about a specific prime minister, diplomat, or state decision, but about the ‘Jewish lobby’ and ‘Israelis,’ it is no longer just politics. It is an entry into the old territory of conspiracy theories — where they always look for ‘Jewish influence,’ ‘secret agreements,’ and ‘behind-the-scenes culprits.’
NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency considers this moment key: Israel in Lukashenko’s words is used not as a fact, but as a symbol. A symbol on which it is convenient to cast a shadow without presenting evidence.
From Kyiv to Gaza: Lukashenko connects different wars into one anti-Israeli scheme
In the same interview, Lukashenko sharply spoke about Israel due to the war in the Gaza Strip. He talked about the dead children, accused Israel of destruction, and stated that the country should ‘come to its senses’ and think about its further existence.
This is already another level.
Criticizing the decisions of the Israeli government is possible. Arguing about a military operation is possible. Discussing the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is also possible and necessary. But when a person whose regime has depended on Moscow for years starts talking about the ‘further existence’ of Israel, it does not sound like humanitarian concern.
It sounds like a threat wrapped in a political commentary.
Especially if the first part of the interview stands nearby: ‘Israelis’ allegedly deceived Russia in 2022. It turns into one chain. First, Israel is made a participant in the Kremlin’s tale of failure under Kyiv. Then Israel is accused because of Gaza. Then a phrase about the future existence of the Jewish state is heard.
Coincidence? Too convenient for Moscow, Tehran, and everyone who has long been trying to combine the anti-Ukrainian and anti-Israeli agenda into one package.
What Lukashenko is actually selling to his audience
He is not selling the truth. He is selling an excuse.
In his version, Putin is not an aggressor, but a person who was ‘deceived.’ Russia did not attack, but supposedly tried to negotiate. Ukraine did not stand firm, but simply took advantage of someone else’s promises. Belarus is not an accomplice in the attack, although it was from Belarusian territory that Russian troops went to Kyiv in February 2022.
And Israel is not a state with its own complex security interests, but some vague force that can be placed next to the Vatican and blamed for someone else’s defeat.
This is a very convenient scheme.
It removes responsibility from Moscow. It whitewashes Putin. It allows Lukashenko to again appear not as an accomplice in aggression, but as a person who supposedly ‘knew how to negotiate.’
But behind this scheme, the main thing is visible: Lukashenko cannot get out of the role of the Kremlin’s political service staff. He can change his tone, give interviews to an Arab TV channel, talk about peace, apologize to Zelensky — but at the decisive moment, he still repeats what Putin needs.
Apologies to Zelensky do not cancel Belarus’s role
In the same information package on June 15, 2026, Lukashenko stated that Ukraine should not expect military actions from Belarus and apologized to Volodymyr Zelensky for harsh statements. Ukrainian media conveyed this part separately: he tried to show that Minsk supposedly does not want a direct expansion of the war.
But the problem is not in the intonation.
The problem is in memory.
Belarus has already been used as a springboard for an attack on Ukraine. In 2022, it was not a neutral territory. The Russian military machine went through it. Therefore, any words of Lukashenko about peace should be read alongside the actions of his regime, not instead of them.
He can say ‘sorry’ to Zelensky. He can assure that he does not intend to fight. He can tell an Arab TV channel that he wanted peace.
But as long as he repeats the Kremlin’s version of ‘deceived Russia,’ this is not peacemaking. This is an attempt to rewrite history.
Why Israel cannot ignore this phrase
Israel often becomes a convenient target where authoritarian regimes need to explain their own failures. This has happened more than once: if facts interfere, a hint is turned on. If there is no evidence, ‘lobbies,’ ‘behind-the-scenes,’ ‘influence,’ ‘secret forces’ appear.
Lukashenko’s phrase is dangerous precisely because of this.
It does not prove Israel’s involvement in any decision regarding Kyiv. It does not explain who exactly spoke on behalf of Zelensky. It does not show a single document, a single date of negotiations, a single official status.
But it throws a convenient poison into the public space: as if ‘Israelis’ had a hand in the fact that the war in Ukraine did not end as Putin wanted.
For NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency, this is the main Israeli angle of the story. Lukashenko is not just lying about the war. He uses Israel as a political tool to save the myth about Putin.
And he does this at a time when anti-Israeli rhetoric in the world is already intensifying against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
Conclusion
On June 15, 2026, Lukashenko did not say anything accidental. He gathered several theses needed by Moscow in one interview: Russia supposedly wanted peace, Putin was supposedly deceived, Ukraine supposedly could have ended the war earlier, Belarus supposedly does not want to fight, and Israel should think about its future existence.
This is not an analysis.
This is a political service.
Lukashenko is once again covering for Putin, but now he is doing it through Israel. He tries to turn the Russian failure under Kyiv into a story about the ‘Vatican,’ ‘Jewish lobby,’ and ‘Israelis.’ And then adds Gaza and a phrase about Israel’s existence to this.
This does not look like diplomacy, but a propaganda link.
Russia did not take Kyiv not because someone deceived it. Russia did not take Kyiv because Ukraine resisted. And Israel in this story is needed by Lukashenko for only one thing — so that Putin’s legend has a new external culprit.