Lukashenko names conditions for Belarus to join Russia's war

Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, has stated that the Belarusian army will join the Russian Armed Forces only in the event of an attack on Belarus.

Source: Belarusian state-owned media agency Belta, cited by European Pravda

"For now, I am ready to join Russians in the war from the territory of Belarus only in one case: if soldiers come from there to kill my people. If they were to attack Belarus, the retaliation would be most brutal. And the war would take on a completely different character," he said.

Lukashenko emphasised that this applies not only to Ukraine, but to all other neighbouring countries.

He voiced his confidence that Ukraine was only a pretext for waging a war that the West was actively pushing towards. "You blame Russia. Oh, but you want to dismember Ukraine at the hands of the Poles," Lukashenko said.

Returning to the question of whether aggression on the part of Belarus is possible, Lukashenko once again repeated: "We are peaceful people. We know what war is. We do not want a war. And we are not going to place our troops into the territory of Ukraine under any circumstances. That is, unless you carry out aggression on the territory of Belarus from the outside. Here is my answer. It was given a long time ago."

Lukashenko also reiterated that Russia is an ally of Belarus; the countries have a common military group. But even so, Russia has never asked Belarus to start a war against Ukraine, he assured.

Lukashenko also announced his intelligence data that the West wants to involve Belarus in the war and literally dreams of it, as this would make it possible, taking into account the length of the borders of Belarus, to stretch the front by an additional 2,500 kilometres, which would complicate the situation for the troops of Belarus and Russia.

"It is a correct calculation. But an empty, meaningless one. We will not give you this chance. But if only you dare to set foot on our land, the answer will be brutal. Westerners know how [it will be done – ed.] and with what weapons," Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko also stated that the Belarusian army  numbers 75,000 soldiers in peacetime, but its number can be increased to half a million if necessary. "No one needs war. While there is no expansion of this aggression today, let's negotiate peace," the president urged.

At the same time, Lukashenko started lying that the West and Ukraine needed war, not peace negotiations. "You are not just not ready, it would be a terrible tragedy and a disaster for you if peace negotiations started now. You need a war," he said.

In addition, Lukashenko said that he will be able to announce mobilisation in the event of a threat of war, in accordance with the laws of the country. "This is written in documents, they are not secret. If we feel a threat of war, we will start mobilisation. There is no such threat so far," he emphasised.

The self-proclaimed president of Belarus repeated the established expression "if you want peace, prepare for war". "Therefore, if you want peace, you must be ready for war. And your opponent must understand – he is ready," Lukashenko added.

Background:

• Early in February, Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile, published an appeal, in which she called on Belarusians to develop an action plan in the event of the active involvement of Belarus in this war by Lukashenko’s regime.

• Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC), believes that at their next meeting on Friday, Vladimir Putin will again try to persuade the illegitimate president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to directly participate in the war against Ukraine.

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