Lukashenko blames Ukraine for war and warns Belarus will join.jpgw1440

Lukashenko blames Ukraine for war and warns Belarus will join fight if attacked

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Authoritarian Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday accused Ukraine of provoking Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, and he insisted Belarus was “a peaceful nation” despite allowing its territory to be used as a theater of war become.

But in typically convoluted remarks at a Minsk press conference, Lukashenko again appeared to resist any pressure from Moscow to send his own troops to Ukraine, warning that he would only do so if his country was under attack.

In comments disguised as a stern warning to Ukraine and other Western nations, Lukashenko said, “I am ready to fight alongside the Russians from the territory of Belarus on only one occasion: if at least one soldier enters Belarus, kill my people.” “

“If they commit aggression against Belarus, the answer will come immediately,” he said. “The war will take on a whole different dimension.”

Lukashenko’s question-and-answer session with journalists came a day before his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and his remarks may have been strategic to set expectations and forestall a request that Lukashenko use his own armed forces stationed in Ukraine.

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A year ago, Russian forces in Belarus invaded Ukraine from the north in what ended up being a disastrous attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. These troops were repulsed and later fled back to Belarus.

Since Russia has suffered a series of battlefield defeats and heavy casualties that have required reinforcements, Lukashenko has not offered to send his troops to war, although he spoke in Moscow and Minsk of growing military cooperation between the countries, including exercises that have resulted in more Russian troops stationed in Belarus.

Lukashenko’s government has faced a spate of Western sanctions since August 2020, when he claimed to have won a new term in elections widely believed to be fraudulent. Belarus is heavily dependent on Russia for economic and security aid, but Lukashenko has so far proven unwilling to sacrifice his own soldiers to help Putin achieve his goals in Ukraine, including the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories.

On Thursday, Lukashenko aped the Kremlin by blaming Kyiv and the West for the war and saying Ukraine provoked the offensive.

“It’s not an invasion; the Ukrainian authorities provoked this operation,” said Lukashenko. “Had they reached an agreement with Russia, there would have been no war.”

“There was no invasion,” Lukashenko continued. “I believe this is protecting the interests of Russia and the people, the Russians, who live there.”

In recent weeks, Kiev officials have warned that Russia could attack again from Belarus, possibly further west, to try to block the movement of arms being sent to Ukraine by the United States and other NATO countries.

In December, Belarus complained to Ukraine that a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile had entered Belarusian airspace. Minsk claimed to have shot down the S-300 missile. The incident came as the Russians launched heavy rocket fire into Ukraine as part of an ongoing effort to destroy Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

While opposing his military’s direct involvement in the war, Lukashenko has often issued harsh threats to Kiev. In October, he warned that Ukraine “should not touch even a meter of our territory with its dirty hands.”

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Lukashenko also slammed the West for fueling the war in Ukraine, citing a number of factors including the 2015 French-German-sponsored Minsk Accords, which aimed to secure a truce in the war between Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine implement the eastern Donbass region.

Lukashenko also said the West does not want an end to the conflict. “You are escalating this conflict today,” he said, directing his remarks to Western reporters at the press conference. The United States does not want peace, he said. “They turned Europe inside out and let it do what they want.”

Lukashenko also criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he should pursue “an independent policy” and distance himself from the United States and its allies. “He shouldn’t be going around Western Europe asking about F-16s or other fighter jets or long-range MLRS,” he said, referring to multi-launch missile systems. “He should think about how to end the war so that 100,000 to 300,000 Ukrainians don’t die in it.”

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Lukashenko’s three-hour press conference was described by his office as a “surprise event” after a press tour organized for national and international journalists took place on the Belarusian border with Ukraine.

But amidst all the tough talks, Lukashenko reiterated his reluctance to get involved in the war. “We don’t want war,” he said. “There is no way we will send our troops to Ukraine if you do not carry out aggression against Belarus from there. Here is my answer. It was given a long time ago.”

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