Belarus' self-proclaimed president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has said the Belarusian army will only go to the Russia-launched war against Ukraine in the event of a direct attack on Belarus.
Belta, the state agency of Belarus, has announced this, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"I am ready to fight with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case so far: if from there at least one soldier comes to the territory of Belarus to kill my people. If they carry out aggression against Belarus, the answer will be the most brutal. And the war will become quite different," Lukashenko said at a meeting with foreign and Belarusian journalists.
He stressed that this applies not only to Ukraine, but also to other neighbors.
The Belarusian leader expressed his belief that Ukraine was only the reason for the outbreak of the war, which was pushed by the West, and that Western countries "have interest in dismembering Ukraine."
Returning to the question whether armed aggression by Belarus is possible, Lukashenko reiterated that he does not intend to send troops to Ukraine.
We are peaceful people. We know what war is. We don't want war. And we are in no way going to bring our troops into the territory of Ukraine. Unless you commit aggression on the territory of Belarus. Here's my answer. It has been given for a long time," he said.
Lukashenko recalled that Russia is an ally of Belarus and the countries have a joint military group, but, according to him, Russia has never asked Belarus to start a war against Ukraine.
"Russia has never asked me to start a war together against Ukraine. Russia is well aware that I have a sea of problems near Brest, Grodno and there to the north - with Lithuania," he said.
Lukashenko also said that according to his intelligence, the West "dreams" of drawing Belarus into the war, which would allow, taking into account the length of the borders of Belarus, to stretch the front by 2.5 thousand km, which would complicate the situation for the troops of Belarus and Russia.
“The correct calculation, but empty, is meaningless. We will not give you this chance. But if you dare to set foot on our land, the answer will be scary. Westerners know how and with what weapons," Lukashenko said.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) supported a resolution on the creation of an international tribunal to prosecute the military and political leadership of Russia and Belarus.
In October, Lukashenko said he was aware of an alleged attack on Belarus from Ukraine.
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