MOSCOW, 16 May (BelTA) – A hot war would be in Belarus already if not for the Union State of Belarus and Russia and Belarus' membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement at a meeting of leaders of the CSTO countries in Moscow on 16 May, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “It is obvious that today no country represents a threat to the North Atlantic bloc.”
Nevertheless, he stated that the Alliance constantly builds up its military presence at Belarus' western borders and stages large-scale exercises: “If, let's say, there were 3,500 troops in this location seven years ago, there are about 40,000 now. Right there in the territory of Poland and the Baltic states. I am not talking about Ukraine for now.”
“And here our military interaction within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Belarus' membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization act as stabilizers, which provide a certain sobering effect on hotheads on the other side of the border. It is an example that testifies that without that, I am afraid, a hot war would be in Belarus' territory already. By the way, they tried to arrange it in 2020,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
