Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated in an interview published today, Thursday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attempting to push his country to join the war in Ukraine. Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin, said, "To involve Belarus... what would that lead to? Nothing." During the interview with pro-Russian Ukrainian journalist Diana Pantechkino, he added, "If you Ukrainians do not cross our borders, we will never participate in this war. (We will not participate) in this hot war. But we will always help Russia; they are our allies."
Lukashenko continued by stating that he believes Russia has already achieved its goals in what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, and that both sides should sit at the negotiation table and be ready to discuss all issues, including the future of Crimea and other territories annexed by Moscow. He noted, "So far, its goals (Russia's) have been achieved. Ukraine will never act this aggressively toward Russia after the end of this war, as it did before the war."
Lukashenko warned that Belarus would respond in the case of external aggression, including the potential use of nuclear weapons that Moscow has stationed on its territory. He said, "There can be only one threat - only one aggression against our country. If aggression against our country starts from Poland, Lithuania, or Latvia, we will respond immediately with everything we have."
