Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that his country is preparing for war, Meduza reported.
Vladimir Putin's puppet said that Belarus does not want to go to war, but is preparing for war. He said this during a visit to the city of Grodno, near the border with Poland and Lithuania, the state agency Belta reports.
„Don't believe anyone that we want to fight. We are preparing for war, I speak of this frankly. “If you want peace, prepare for war” - I didn't make this up. That is very rightly said," Lukashenko said. According to him, relevant units are trained in Belarus, various types of weapons and equipment are supplied to the troops.
Belarus today started military exercises in regions bordering Ukraine and two European Union countries - Lithuania and Poland, the Ministry of Defense of the country announced, as quoted by Reuters. The three-day exercises in the Gomel and Grodno regions are aimed at training the officers and servicemen of the territorial defense how to protect the respective regions and how to act in the event of the introduction of martial law, the ministry specified in Telegram.
Belarus is Russia's closest ally. Over the past few years, Minsk's relations with its western neighbors and Ukraine have seriously deteriorated, especially since Moscow used Belarusian territory for its invasion that began in February 2022. Belarus did not send its troops against Ukraine, but gave its territory to Putin for the opening on the front against Kiev. Russia and Belarus have agreed in 2023 that Russian tactical nuclear weapons will be deployed on Belarusian territory.