Belarus’s authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has apologised to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his harsh remarks and has once again given assurances that there will be no attack from Belarus. He made these comments in an interview with Al Arabiya TV, which was broadcast on 15 June.
“Perhaps I went a bit too far, but it was a response to his inappropriate statements: ‘Yes, we have 500 targets, yes, we know where Lukashenko is. Tomorrow we will launch a strike with missiles and drones.’ I remained silent. Even everyone was surprised that I was silent. I understood: the man is under such pressure, a young man, inexperienced, not a military man. Perhaps something in his head didn’t work properly. But when they started threatening me, I had to respond. “If Vladimir Alexandrovich took offence, I apologise to him for those words. Perhaps that wasn’t necessary, given that he is, after all, at war. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said it so bluntly,” said Lukashenko.
At the same time, he acknowledged that Belarus is “very vulnerable militarily if Ukraine were to attack Belarus in the same way it is attacking Russia”.
According to Lukashenko, Belarus is “as clear as day” to the Ukrainian military – and this is one of the reasons why the country does not want to be involved in the war.
“We understand perfectly well that our key infrastructure – production and logistics – will come under attack. As they have stated, they have already identified 500 such targets on Belarusian territory,” said Lukashenko.
He reiterated that the Ukrainian people and military have nothing to fear from Belarus, as this would benefit no one. However, Lukashenko had spoken of this before, and as a result, in February 2022, he supported Russian military aggression, and now Russian drones frequently fly over Belarusian territory, attacking Ukraine.
Earlier, the Ukrainian military stated that it had already identified 500 targets in Belarus in the event of the country entering the war. At the time, the Belarusian authoritarian leader threatened to strike a single ‘very serious’ target in Ukraine, and suggested that Zelenskyy had ‘screwed up somewhere, messed up somewhere’.
Russia and its ally Belarus held nuclear exercises on 19–21 May against the backdrop of escalating drone attacks on Russia. Belarus, which borders NATO’s eastern flank, is also home to the ‘Oreshnik’ – Russia’s latest missile system capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
On 19 May, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, commenting on the threat from Belarus, stated that potential operations in the north were a real possibility.
Following these statements, Alexander Lukashenko said that Minsk “will not be drawn into” Russia’s war against Ukraine, but on one condition – provided it does not constitute an act of aggression against Belarusian territory.
Belarus is not directly involved in the war against Ukraine, but in February 2022 its authorities allowed Russian troops to pass through and be stationed on the country’s territory, and strikes were launched against Ukraine from Belarusian territory.