Belarus' Lukashenko warns of joining Russia in the war if Ukraine attempts to aim at Minsk

In an inflammatory warning, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday warned that he will t hesitate to join Russia in war against Ukraine if Kyiv's Armed Forces attempt "to aim" at Minsk. Lukashenko, who is a strong ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, asserted that he would "enter Russia's war" if Ukraine "starts to kill Belarusian people." He furr alleged that in past three days Kyiv had tried to target military facilities in Belarus, although y were intercepted, Kyiv Independent reported. It is too mention that Russia has been using Belarus' territory to launch missiles at Ukraine.

Lukashenko's remarks come a day after he directed a stern warning toward former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) who is allegedly "keeping distance" from Russia following invasion. As quoted by Belarusian state-run BelTA news ncy, authoritarian leader stressed that "we are convinced that only toger can we resist global challenges." Speaking at ninth Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia alongside Putin, Lukashenko threatened countries saying that if y wanted to preserve ir post-Soviet sovereignty and independence, "y should sincerely be interested in rapprochement with union state."

"Those who still have doubts should understand: Without speedy unity and rallying, strengning of interstate ties and simply rmal human relations, we may t exist tomorrow," added Lukashenko, as translated by Newsweek.

Putin, at same convention, emphasised that coordinated response to "special military operation in Ukraine" by European nations and US has pushed  Russia and Belarus towards "unification." According to a transcript released by Kremlin, Putin said that "unprecedented political and ecomic pressure from so-called 'collective West' is accelerating unification process...in order to minimise dam from illegal sanctions and develop new competencies."

tably, before invasion began on February 24, Lukashenko had allowed Russia to station its military forces along Belarusian border. Both countries also conducted large-scale drills to show strength. During meeting last Friday, Putin also promised to send Iskander-M missile to Belarus in order to tackle "repulsive and confrontational" policies of West. On or hand, President Lukashenko in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow must be ready to deploy nuclear weapons to thwart western escalation.

Ukraine's Lviv alerted over potential attack from Belarus side

Lukashenko's provocative rhetoric has led Ukraine to brace for potential threats of escalation from Belarusian side. Mayor of west Ukrainian city of Lviv, Andrii Sadovyi, on Friday took to Facebook, claiming that a large "military threat" is looming as Belarus might launch an offensive to blockade alternative export routes. "In each district of city, we will create a defense headquarters and conduct additional training for members of volunteer formations of territorial defense forces," Sadovyi wrote. "We will t transfer m to 24-hour duty yet. However, this decision can change at any moment. Since situation on Belarusian-Ukrainian border is unpredictable, this is its biggest difficulty. We are also considering option of forming reserve volunteer battalions from employees of city council and utility enterprises,” he added.  

(Im: AP)