Belarus has no plans to join the Russian military attack on Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko claimed during a state Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
“The Belarusian army has never taken any part and isn’t taking any part in the hostilities. We can prove it to anyone. Moreover, Russian authorities have never raised this matter with us - about our participation in the military conflict. We have no plans to engage in this special operation in Ukraine. There is no such necessity,” he stated, as cited by the Belarusian news agency BelTA.
According to BelTA, he has also said that Belarusian military forces currently concentrated near Ukraine were to reinforce the border to “avoid radicals, weapons” entering the country.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian media reported Belarusian military forces crossing the border and entering Ukraine’s Chernihiv oblast, with a reference to a representative for the Regional Forces of Territorial Defense, Vitaly Kirillov.
Last Thursday Russia launched a military offensive against Ukraine, claiming it was necessary to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine to protect the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Russian security interests. The international community has reacted with outrage, imposing heavy sanctions against Russia and closing airspace of more than 30 countries worldwide.
The first round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine was conducted on Monday on the Belarus-Ukrainian border and lasted for five hours.