LUNINETS, 21 January (BelTA) – Belarus' border with Ukraine should be reliably protected, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at a meeting in Luninets to discuss efforts to strengthen Belarus' military security on 21 January, BelTA has learned.
“Today we have gathered here, in this quiet, peaceful nook of our Belarus, to discuss the security of our state. Some ten years ago no one would ever think that we might need to send military units and a whole group of forces to protect our southern border. It hurts us to watch what is happening in Ukraine. Its current political leadership, being under external control, sometimes behaves unpredictably and irrationally. Therefore, we need to get ready for this unpredictability and irrationality and, God forbid, military actions. Belarus and Ukraine have almost 1,500 km of common border, which is pretty long. We should not just wait and see what is happening on this border, we should take every effort to protect it,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, the soul of the Ukrainian nation is being torn apart. First of all, this pertains to Slavic legacy, common roots, language, cultural and ethnic code that binds peoples. “There are attempts to deprive Ukrainians of their soul,” he said.
“Who would have thought that a few decades after the end of the Great Patriotic War, youngsters with a swastika would march along the central streets of Kyiv and other cities. This is unacceptable for us, because we will never forget the things that happened on our land. After all, we remember Khatyn, we remember what happened there and who committed these atrocities. This is also one of the reasons why we are here today trying to figure out how we should respond to what is happening across the southern border of our country,” the head of state said.
According to him, Belarus has a clear idea of what is happening in the south and in general along the country's border. “We know very well how to respond to this. Yet, we need to think beyond today. We need to understand what turn the situation might take in the future: what will happen tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. There is a wise proverb: If you want peace, prepare for war. It is tough, but so masculine. We must do everything to ensure that we will not be taken aback, and that we will be able to respond at the right time. I am absolutely convinced that you, the military, know what needs to be done to protect our land,” the Belarusian president said.
The head of state also noted that the meeting venue was not chosen accidentally. In late November last year, the defense minister already told the head of state what should be done to protect the southern border. “Back then we agreed that we would meet here in Luninets one day, as the military believe that this is a very good and convenient location to discuss all the proposals that were put forward back then and were to be finalized later,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
He asked to update him on the work to fine-tune the proposals related to air defense in Luninets and other parts of Belarus and the proposals related to the protection of the southern border.
