Leader of Belarus rejects calls to rerun presidential vote

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus on Sunday rejected any possibility of holding a rerun of last week's presidential elections and invoked fears of a Western military threat.

"Some want new elections. Look out your window!" implored Lukashenko, addressing a rally of thousands of supporters in the capital Minsk.

"There are tanks and planes 15 minutes away from our borders."

The president, who has ruled since 1994 and repressed opposition and independent news media, accused NATO forces of gathering military units in countries along Belarus' western borders.

Lukashenko has been under pressure since anti-government protests erupted last Sunday, after official election results gave him a sixth term in a landslide with about 80% of the vote.

The president denounced suggestions of rerunning the election, saying if Belarus were to do so, "we will perish as a state."

The Collective Treaty Security Organization, a military alliance of six former Soviet states including Belarus, has said it will make a decision about providing assistance if Belarus requests it.

Lukashenko on Saturday said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed that Russia would send unspecified security assistance if Lukashenko asked for it.

Later in the day, Belarus' Defense Ministry announced that it would hold military exercises starting Monday near the Lithuanian border.