According to the president of Belarus, the West is planning an attack on Russia because of their ongoing war in Ukraine.
President Alexander Lukashenko said this week during a ceremony honoring military graduates and senior offices that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin “discussed in detail” this prospect. According to the Kremlin, the two men met to talk about strengthening the Russian-Belarusian relationship.
The Belarusian news outlet, BelTA reported, “Strategic plans for an attack against Russia are being developed. And the main direction of the strike—history repeats itself—is through Ukraine and through Belarus.”
Lukashenko was apparently referencing the invasion of Russia by Napoleon’s troops in 1812 and by the Nazis in Germany in 1941.
President Lukashenko did not say very much about his claim, and Western nations have not declared any information about preparing an attack against Russia. But a day earlier, there was a report from TASS, a Russian-owned media outlet that indicated Putin and Lukashenko were joining together to make a joint response against a potential attack from Lithuania.
There was a statement from the Kremlin about how the two nations would work to respond to Lithuanian after it began imposing European Union sanctions on materials moving into Russia’s Kaliningrad territory, which is on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
“Emphasis was placed on the situation relating to the illegal restrictions imposed by Lithuania on the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad Region . In this context, some possible joint steps were discussed,” the Kremlin said.
Belarus President Cozies Up To Russia
The Belarusian president has already cozied up to Russia by allowing them to put troops in their country and conduct large-scale military drills there.
It was Putin who said on July 1st to a bilateral forum in the Belarusian city of Grodno, that the possibility of a Western response had driven the two nations together.
“Unprecedented political and sanctions pressure from the collective West is pushing Russia and Belarus to speed up the unification process.After all, it is easier to minimize the damage from illegal sanctions, it is easier to master the production of demanded products, develop new competencies and expand cooperation with friendly countries,” Putin said.
The two nations signed a treaty together in 1997 to build up relations that had fallen apart after the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, warned Belarus not to allow Putin to drag their country into war. He said during a press conference that they were being brought into the war and that the Kremlin was already deciding everything on their behalf. He told them, “But you are not slaves and cannon fodder. You don’t have to die. Your lives are worthless to them. And you cannot let anyone decide what awaits you next.”
Belarus, as Kremlin’s main ally, has served as a staging ground for the Russian army in its offensive on neighboring Ukraine. Lukashenko is likely focusing on NATO’s continued expansion, saying the “newly-minted crusaders” were “forming an armored fist” to attack Russia.
He believes that the events evolving around his nation and Russia are calling for vigilance and concentration. He noted that the West is pushing the world towards “major war” and the army should “keep its powder dry.”
And he is not alone, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said something very similar on Tuesday. She accused the United States and its allies of provoking the Ukraine crisis and risking “an open military confrontation with our country. Obviously, such a collision would carry a risk of nuclear escalation,” she said in a statement.
Yes, she went there.
