Belarus has no plans to take part in the special operation in Ukraine, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting with members of the Security Council and the Council of Ministers on 1 March, BelTA has learned.
The head of state noted that now the operation is being carried out from five directions: from the Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, towards Kiev, Chernigov, Kharkov. “Meanwhile, the Belarusian army has not taken part and is not taking part in the hostilities. We can prove it to anyone. But there is no need to do it now. Americans have admitted it. They said: we do not see that the Armed Forces of Belarus are taking part in this operation; more than that, we do not see that the Belarusian army is getting ready to take part in this operation. This is a response to statements of scoundrels from among the self-exiled opposition who launched a massive campaign all over Belarus alleging that tomorrow certain military units will enter the territory of Ukraine. I have not made such decisions. These military units cannot even leave their garrisons without my decision,” the president said.
“Moreover, the Russian leadership has never raised this issue with us, I mean our participation in the armed conflict. The question is: what for? Don't they have the weapons that we have? Don't they have enough human resources? They have enough of them. Don't they have the necessary combat skills? They do. We are not taking part and are not going to take part in this special operation in Ukraine. There is no such need. We have our own forces to defend our state border from Brest to Mozyr and to prevent the penetration of radicals and weapons into the country,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
According to the president, air defense systems were also put on alert in Belarus in order to prevent Russian troops from being hit in the back. “The defense minister reported to me that we are ready to defend the western border with another five battalions,” he said.
“There is no other way. We are constantly expecting provocations from Western partners, be it in politics, economy, or defense,” the Belarusian leader stated.
