Former Lokomotiv Moscow footballer Sergei Gurenko was afraid to say the word 'war' when asked about Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. The former Belarusian national team player called himself an optimist in life with a belief in a speedy peace and recalled the Second World War.

Gurenko said this in an interview with the propaganda TV channel Match TV. The so-called journalist asked the former athlete whether the peoples of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus would be at peace, and also asked about life in the republic, where the dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenko continues to rule.

"I am an optimist in life. We have seen such events, but our grandfathers lived in worse times. We have to believe in the best. Life in Belarus? Almost like in Russia. Everything is the same. It's always comfortable in Belarus. In terms of travelling, for example, in terms of everyday life. Everything is close by, everything is close. And if you live in the capital, it's clean, green, and there are many lakes. When the sky was open, 2 hours and you were in Vilnius. An hour and you're in Warsaw. You live in the centre of Europe. Now everything is closed, there are many similar difficulties, but that's life. What can you do?" - Gurenko said.

Earlier, he predicted a mess in Asian football if the Russian Football Union (RFU) left Europe and moved to Asia.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, former Russian national team goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev spoke of "Russian character that Europeans will never have" and became a laughingstock online.

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