- Few people are as familiar with Vladimir Putin as Alexander Lukashenko.
- Mr Putin has not met with Western journalists since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
- Mr. Lukashenko used Thursday’s event to blame the West for Ukraine’s conflict.
Few people are as familiar with Vladimir Putin as Alexander Lukashenko.
Belarus’ authoritarian leader is a staunch Kremlin ally and supporter of what Mr Putin refers to as the “special military operation” – what the rest of the world refers to as Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Putin has not met with Western journalists since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
Mr. Lukashenko, on the other hand, took questions from a small group of foreign media, today in Minsk.
“Last year you allowed your country to be used as a staging ground for Russia’s invasion,” I reminded Mr Lukashenko. “Are you prepared to do so again?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” he replied. “I’m ready to provide [territory] again. I’m also ready to wage war, alongside the Russians, from the territory of Belarus. But only if someone – even a single soldier – enters our territory from there (Ukraine) with weapons to kill my people.”
Russia and Belarus’ military cooperation has grown, with joint drills and the formation of a joint military grouping. But, so far, Belarus’s president has refrained from sending troops into Ukraine to fight alongside Russian forces.
The United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States do not recognize Alexander Lukashenko as Belarus‘ legitimate president. Belarusians took to the streets in 2020 to accuse him of stealing the country’s presidential election. Protests were brutally put down.
Mr. Lukashenko used Thursday’s event to blame the West for Ukraine’s conflict.
He accused Western governments of fomenting the conflict and engaged in some Putin-style nuclear bluster.
“If you continue this escalation, you will get nuclear weapons and Russia has more than anyone,” he said. “So, you should stop this. If a nuclear war starts, Belarus will cease to exist. We need to sit down at the negotiating table, because nuclear war will wipe out the USA too. No-one needs this.”
