MINSK, 30 July (BelTA) – The deployment of Russian army bases in Belarus has never been discussed at the level of the presidents. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement as he met with government officials on 30 July to discuss urgent issues of the public and political situation, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that the West is once again concerned about a Belarusian-Russian army exercise, which will be held in September.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “It is at least funny to hear it all. How many exercises have they held along our borders? They criticize us by saying Lukashenko wants Russian bases in Belarus. Listen, we don't care about their deployment of many army bases in Europe. There are plenty of those there. Why do you complain about us? The deployment of Russian bases in Belarus has never been discussed at the level of the presidents. Primarily because there is absolutely no need for it considering modern weapons.”
At the same time Aleksandr Lukashenko stated: “If we have to deploy all the armed forces with all kinds of weapons here for the sake of security of the Union State that we are building, for the sake of security of Belarus and Russia, it will be done immediately. There is no need for it now. We have quite strong, united, and compact Armed Forces. In addition to territorial defense troops we can promptly field 500,000 people at a time of need. If it is not enough, all the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will be moved here. It will never happen. But we will not think about it twice if necessary.”
“Let me repeat it once again: there is absolutely no need for it today. I didn't deploy any armed forces here, neither from Russia nor from Ukraine nor from other countries back in August 2020 when some were wavering, when some became traitors, when some went into hiding, when someone's brains were boiling. We dealt with this disaster on our own. It is my policy,” Aleksandr Lukashenko summed it up.
