Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko this Wednesday ruled out military deployment in the country, contrary to what has happened in Russia, and assured that Minsk “does not intend to participate in wars”.
“There will be no mobilization. This is a lie,” said Lukashenko, who was quoted this Wednesday as the government broadcaster Pul Pervogo broadcast on the digital messaging network Telegram.
Shortly afterwards, the state news agency Belta released another statement from the head of state in which Lukashenko reiterated that Belarus “will not participate in a war”.
“We will only fight if it is necessary to defend our homes and our country,” he added.
This is the first time Lukashenko has stated that Belarus will not participate directly in the battle.
Belarus is one of Moscow’s closest allies in Russia’s new military campaign against Ukraine, which began on February 24.
The country served as a base for Russian troops in the invasion of Ukraine and was heavily criticized by the Kiev government for this.
On the other hand, several Eastern European news portals are reporting that Belarusian security forces have received verbal orders to identify Russian citizens hiding in Belarus in an effort to stop the “partial mobilization” ordered this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin. announced to prevent.
Many Russian reservists are afraid of being drafted into the armed forces and are therefore trying to leave the country across Russia’s borders with Finland, Georgia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan.
Belarus, a former Soviet republic bordering Russia, is also one of the alleged flight lines, not least because there are no border crossings between the two countries under existing bilateral agreements.
Source: DN
