The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that an attack on the country would mean the beginning of the Third World War, BelTa and TASS report.
"I want to warn our opponents, our rivals and those who still do not understand that there is no need to do this, this is the third world war,", the Belarusian leader emphasized, speaking at a patriotic forum dedicated to the National Day of the unity.
By multiplying national wealth and drawing on the experience of previous generations, Belarus confidently moves forward on the path of peace and development, the president expressed confidence.
"Surviving severe trials, serious losses, multiplying national wealth, drawing on the experience of previous generations, Belarus has been confidently moving forward on the path of peace and development for 85 years, Lukashenko said. Even now, when the guns of NATO are aimed at us from the territories of our western and southern neighbors, when kilometers of fences and minefields are growing longer along the borders, we are responding in a simple way and in the best traditions of Europe's last dictatorship . We open the borders and do not require permits or visas. People on the other side can hear us. They come, look, draw conclusions that are not in favor of those who forbid them to come here.
We remind you that a day earlier Lukashenko signed a decree pardoning 37 people convicted of crimes related to "extremism".
Thus, the total number of prisoners pardoned by Lukashenko since the beginning of July has become 115. Among those freed are six women, as well as an unspecified number of pensioners, people with disabilities and people suffering from chronic diseases.
Lukashenko has been increasingly dependent on Russia since 2020, when support from President Vladimir Putin helped him hang on to power amid mass protests in the country. Lukashenko used the full force of his security apparatus to crush protests that erupted in August 2020 when he was declared the winner of an election that the opposition and Western governments accused him of stealing. Thousands of people were arrested.
Lukashenko denies there are any political prisoners in Belarus, where he has ruled since 1994. Human rights activists say around 1,400 people are in prison for expressing dissent.
Among those serving long sentences in Belarus are Ales Bialiatsky, a human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Sergey Tsikhanovsky, whose wife Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya is an exiled opposition leader in Belarus.
Russia and Belarus will sign an agreement guaranteeing each other security in the use of nuclear weapons, it became clear at the beginning of September.
This is expected to happen in December, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov announced at the time.
The agreement will enter into force within the framework of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State between Russia and Belarus. The document was signed in 1999, so its 25th anniversary is in the current year 2024.
According to Rizhenkov, the principles of using nuclear weapons will be spelled out in the agreement.