Lukashenko claims that the West is trying to drag Belarus into the war with Ukraine

EUROPEAN PRAVDA — FRIDAY, 17 JUNE 2022, 16:37

Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, claims that the West is trying to drag his country into the war in Ukraine.

This was reported by the Belarusian state news agency BelTA, European Pravda reports.

Lukashenko claims that Belarus is not going to fight in Ukraine, but the West is dragging it into the war.

"Putin has never asked me: come on, go, kill someone in Ukraine and so on. But they (the West - ed.) are pushing us into this conflict to deal with both Russia and Belarus and build a front line - from St. Petersburg to Rostov. In order to get rid of this Belarusian balcony as they call it. In 2020, they failed. They continue to do so by other methods, "said the Belarusian dictator.

He emphasised that Belarus should not get involved in this conflict and not create a "war."

"We need to protect this piece of land (Belarus. - ed.) Thank God, we have been able to do so for now. The main thing for me is not to get into this completely, this Ukrainian conflict, but to make it end sooner," he said.

Lukashenko assured that Belarus does not intend to fight in Ukraine.

"I was already asked this question in private yesterday: is your army going to invade Ukraine? I said we are not going to go anywhere until you cross the red line. Once you cross our border or target Mozyr Oil Refinery (they had a crazy idea like that), we will respond immediately. This is why if you leave us alone, we are not going to go to you," he claimed.  

Background: On 7 June the Ministry of Defence of Belarus declared the start of training on the  transition from peacetime to wartime."