(Dan Tri) – The President of Belarus announced that the country is ready to participate in the conflict in Ukraine if it becomes the target of an attack.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (Photo: Getty).
Talking to Russia 1 TV channel on June 14, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said his country is very peaceful and has gone through enough wars throughout history.
`We have enough strength to respond,` President Lukashenko declared, saying he will not let the 10 million Belarusians and 3 million Russians living in the country be attacked.
When asked to define what he means by `aggression`, Mr. Lukashenko clarified that his main `red line` is a full-scale invasion of Belarus.
The Belarusian leader previously stated that the fact that NATO members sharing a common border with Belarus maintain too large a number of troops seems to show preparations for an attack on the country.
The President of Belarus affirmed that he was never asked by Russian President Vladimir Putin to participate in the military campaign in Ukraine.
Belarus shares a 1,085km border with Ukraine and is less than 100km from the Ukrainian capital at its nearest point.
President Lukashenko’s administration affirmed that Belarus’s most important goal is to prevent the conflict from spreading to Belarusian territory, while protecting its people from the risk of attack from unfriendly countries in the region.
President Lukashenko said that he asked Russia to deploy tactical nuclear weapons as a deterrent.
`No one wants to go to war with a nuclear country and I don’t want anyone to go to war with us. Is there such a threat? Yes. I have to fight this threat,` Mr. Lukashenko emphasized.
Mr. Lukashenko also explained that the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus was carried out in accordance with Belarus’s `good faith request` and was not imposed by Russia in any way.
The Defense Ministers of Russia and Belarus on May 25 signed an agreement allowing the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of neighboring Belarus.