Sawt Falasteen - Belarusians near Ukraine border long for end to war

"I am afraid," said the talkative 63-year-old on Lenin Avenue in Gomel, a town of half a million near where the borders of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia meet.

"I want peace," the former electrician added, standing in the falling snow with the word "Belarus" proudly printed on the back of his jacket.

War and peace are occupying the minds of Budyukhin and others in Belarus as the country's ally Russia advances in Ukraine -- and as the new US President Donald Trump vows to end the three-year conflict.

Belarus's authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko -- set to win a fresh term in an uncontested election on Sunday -- is a loyal ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Gomel's airport since 2022 has served as a launch pad for explosive drones sent by Russia to attack Ukraine.

Budyukhin said he saw Russians as his "brothers" -- he has a Russian mother and a Belarusian father. Despite his fears, he said he was ready, "if needed, to take up arms".

- Scattered across borders -

In Gomel, with grey suburbs that look stuck in the Soviet era, locals talk of extended families scattered across all side of the nearby borders.

"My husband is Russian and we have lots of relatives in Ukraine," said another local, Tamara, standing near a bus stop.

"So this situation hurts us too."

She said she wants "stability" for her two children and grandson.

Tamara said "it is mostly calm" at the moment, but in September 2024 the Belarusian army said it intercepted attack drones over its airspace.

"I wish it would all end as quickly as possible," she said.

Others complain that the war has stopped them making visits across the borders.

"It was really cool when we could travel in peace," said Alexandra, 21, who works in a jewellery store.

"Sometimes we would go shopping in Chernigiv," a city in northern Ukraine.

But for three years now she has not been able to visit Ukraine.

- Lukashenko's stance -

Belarus's close ties to Moscow -- and the stationing in the country of Russian tactical nuclear weapons -- had fuelled fears among some that Belarus would get drawn into the war.

But Lukashenko has said his country "does not want to fight".

"There is no fear that there will be a war in Belarus, because I trust our president," said Dmitry Tereshchenko, a 19-year-old student, walking in Gomel hand-in-hand with his girlfriend Alina.

Another local, Yuri Tolayko, a former labourer of 62, says he too is "not afraid".

For him, Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians "are one people".

"We have the same Orthodox faith and therefore we must all be united."

The conflict has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides as Ukraine fights off Russia's invasion with funding and weapons from its Western allies.

Tolayko believes there is a solution: "NATO must lay down its arms, make peace with Russia and say: 'Ok, we were wrong.'"

- Trump peace call -

Trump's return to power in Washington has raised the prospect of a settlement after the Republican leader vowed during campaigning that he could end the conflict "in 24 hours".

Putin has said he is ready for talks. But Russia and Ukraine still seem far from any agreement.

Sergei Budyukhin, the retired electrician, sees little hope of a breakthrough under Trump, whom he sees as unpredictable.

"He says one thing one day and the next days he says the opposite," Budyukhin said.

"You'd have to be stupid to say you could solve so many problems in a single day."

I.Saadi--SF-PST