August 18, 2023
Introduction:
Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/18082023 ... -ukraine/(RFE/RL via Eurasia Review) — Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka said Russian President Vladimir Putin is not trying to push Belarus into joining the war in Ukraine and vowed that Minsk’s forces would never take part in the war unless Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Belarus.
“To involve Belarus…what will that give? Nothing,” Lukashenka said in an online interview with a pro-Russian Ukrainian journalist published by state news agency BelTA on August 17. “If you Ukrainians do not cross our border, we will never participate in this war.”
While Belarus has not sent forces to fight in Ukraine, it has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground for the full-scale invasion Moscow launched in February 2022, and Lukashenka has backed Russia’s war and met with Putin frequently.
He vowed in the interview to “always help Russia,” adding that they “are our allies.”
Lukashenka showed his loyalty in late June when he took part in talks to end a mutiny by the private Wagner mercenary group, claiming he helped halt the revolt by agreeing with Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and Putin to host Wagner troops in Belarus.
