On Saturday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that 3 days ago, Ukraine attempted a missile strike on Belarusian military installations, but the missiles had been intercepted, through the Belarusian state-run media Belta news. Lukashenko has ordered his military to "put the capitals’ decision-making centers of Minsk's opponents at gunpoint", according to Ukrainian state news Pravda.
"I want to warn the 'hawks' and tell you sincerely: a little less than a month ago, I gave the order to the units of the armed forces [of Belarus] to put, as it is now trendy to say, decision-making centers in your capitals at gunpoint with all the consequences that follow," Lukashenko said.
He also said that if the opponents of Minsk dare to "strike, as they plan, on Gomel, in the south, on the Mozyr refinery, on the airfield in Luninets or Brest, the response will be instantaneous, just in one second. We’ve got the means to answer. And not only the ones we have talked about recently with the President of Russia (regarding nuclear weapons - BELTA). I have been preparing for this for a long time. Remember, I talked about missile production, Polonez [multiple rocket launcher] - you are completely under the attack of these missiles. I don’t care whether you’re sitting in the offices or palaces. We will respond harshly and decisively," he said.
In spite of the threats, however, Lukashenko said that Belarus has no desire to fight in Ukraine, and said that it "absolutely does not need" this war. "I assure you under oath: not a single soldier of Belarus is fighting on the territory of Ukraine," he stated.
On the other hand, he also said, "I want to say to those who are worried whether Lukashenko will fight there or not: listen, we will fight - I repeat again - only in one case - if you cross the last meter of our land and invade our land. If you kill our people, we will respond,".
Then he went on to say that Ukrainian authorities would be 'happy' if Belarus invaded Ukraine. "They would be happy, I know that for sure if we entered there. They need it, because they were ordered from ‘there’, and they don’t care about the deaths of civilians. Ukrainian politicians and the president have one policy: the more Ukrainians die, the more he will shout to the whole world about the atrocities of ‘fascists from Russia and Belarus’," Lukashenko said.
There has not been any evidence submitted for this claim, and Lukashenko has repeated that he does not want war with Ukraine, but would retaliate if attacks were made on his country. The Ukrainian military did not immediately make a statement.
Though Russia has utilized Belarus as a means of entry into Ukraine by both land and air, Belarus at this point has managed to stay out of the fight, in Russia's special operation. It was stated earlier last week that Russia would deliver Iskander-M missiles to Belarus, which are nuclear-capable.
Source #1 Reuters | Source #2 France24 | Source #3 Barrons | Source #4 Ukrainian Pravda
"I want to warn the 'hawks' and tell you sincerely: a little less than a month ago, I gave the order to the units of the armed forces [of Belarus] to put, as it is now trendy to say, decision-making centers in your capitals at gunpoint with all the consequences that follow," Lukashenko said.
He also said that if the opponents of Minsk dare to "strike, as they plan, on Gomel, in the south, on the Mozyr refinery, on the airfield in Luninets or Brest, the response will be instantaneous, just in one second. We’ve got the means to answer. And not only the ones we have talked about recently with the President of Russia (regarding nuclear weapons - BELTA). I have been preparing for this for a long time. Remember, I talked about missile production, Polonez [multiple rocket launcher] - you are completely under the attack of these missiles. I don’t care whether you’re sitting in the offices or palaces. We will respond harshly and decisively," he said.
In spite of the threats, however, Lukashenko said that Belarus has no desire to fight in Ukraine, and said that it "absolutely does not need" this war. "I assure you under oath: not a single soldier of Belarus is fighting on the territory of Ukraine," he stated.
On the other hand, he also said, "I want to say to those who are worried whether Lukashenko will fight there or not: listen, we will fight - I repeat again - only in one case - if you cross the last meter of our land and invade our land. If you kill our people, we will respond,".
Then he went on to say that Ukrainian authorities would be 'happy' if Belarus invaded Ukraine. "They would be happy, I know that for sure if we entered there. They need it, because they were ordered from ‘there’, and they don’t care about the deaths of civilians. Ukrainian politicians and the president have one policy: the more Ukrainians die, the more he will shout to the whole world about the atrocities of ‘fascists from Russia and Belarus’," Lukashenko said.
There has not been any evidence submitted for this claim, and Lukashenko has repeated that he does not want war with Ukraine, but would retaliate if attacks were made on his country. The Ukrainian military did not immediately make a statement.
Though Russia has utilized Belarus as a means of entry into Ukraine by both land and air, Belarus at this point has managed to stay out of the fight, in Russia's special operation. It was stated earlier last week that Russia would deliver Iskander-M missiles to Belarus, which are nuclear-capable.
Source #1 Reuters | Source #2 France24 | Source #3 Barrons | Source #4 Ukrainian Pravda
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