MINSK, 25 April (BelTA) - The West considers Eastern Europe as a potential arena of hostilities, Belarusian President, Chairman of the 7th Belarusian People's Congress Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the meeting of the 7th Belarusian People's Congress on 25 April, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said that Washington continues to build up strike and offensive capabilities in Europe. Thus, the U.S. missile defense systems were put into operation in Poland in December 2023.
“We consider the possibility to use Tomahawk cruise missiles, deployed there and capable of hitting targets to the full depth of the territory of Belarus and the European part of the Russian Federation, as a real threat. Since it is a real threat, we need to counteract,” the president stressed. “We record the facts of continuous air and space reconnaissance in the eastern direction by Western countries. Almost the entire available arsenal of NATO countries - from strategic reconnaissance aircraft to unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as the corresponding capabilities of partner countries – is in use.”
According to the head of state, the NATO reconnaissance aviation has increased its activity many times since last year. On average, it is 40-50 flights per week. Since 2019, the Australian Air Force aircraft have been engaged for radar control of the airspace of Belarus and western regions of Russia. “What do they want here?” the president asked.
“All this is happening against the background of high military activity. The number of operational and combat training activities in Poland and the Baltic states increases every year. At the same time, military units of the Armed Forces of the United States and other Western countries also take part in most of these exercises,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The NATO and U.S. exercise Steadfast Defender 24, currently underway in the European region, has become unprecedented in its geographic scope and the number of forces and means involved: about 90,000 troops, up to 15,000 units of hardware, about 300 aircraft, more than 70 ships.
“The goals of the ongoing activities and the nature of the tasks, planned for drilling through the end of May, indicate that the West considers the Eastern European region as a potential arena of hostilities. Russia and Belarus have been identified as the enemy,” the head of state said.
