The authoritarian Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has not sent troops to fight despite reported pressure from Moscow, but he warned of the “harshest” response if attacked.
The authoritarian Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, on Thursday blamed Ukraine for provoking Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, and he insisted that Belarus was “a peaceful nation” despite allowing its territory to be used as a staging ground for the war.But in typically convoluted remarks at a news conference in Minsk, Lukashenko seemed to once again resist any pressure from Moscow to send his own troops into Ukraine, warning that he would do so only if his country was attacked.
Since then, as Russia suffered a string of battlefield defeats and heavy casualties necessitating reinforcements, Lukashenko has not offered to send his troops to join the war, despite professions in Moscow and Minsk of growing military cooperation between the countries, including exercises that have led to more Russian troops stationed in Belarus.
“There was no invasion,” Lukashenko continued. “I believe this is the protection of the interests of Russia and those people, Russian people, who live there.”
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