KYIV: The Ukrainian presidency said Friday that the people of Ukraine, under Russian attack since February, were "architects of peace," after a Ukrainian NGO became the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
"The Ukrainian people are the main architects of peace, in which we must be able to exist without aggression," presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on social media.
A senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced irritation however that the prize was shared with organisations from countries allied against Ukraine: Russia and Belarus.
The "Nobel Committee has an interesting understanding of word 'peace' if representatives of two countries that attacked a third one receive the Nobel Prize together," presidential advisor Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Twitter.
"Neither Russian nor Belarusian organizations were able to organise resistance to the war," Podolyak said.
Russian rights group Memorial and Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski were victims of the repression in their own countries.
Belarus has lent its territory to Russian troops, allowing them to enter Ukraine through the Belarusian border.
