OSIPOVICHI DISTRICT, 17 February (BelTA) – The United States must admit that their intelligence is worthless, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media as he reviewed the Belarusian-Russian exercise Allied Resolve 2022 at the Osipovichi training ground on 17 February, BelTA has learned.
When asked by foreign media about a threat of an attack on Ukraine from the territory of Belarus, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko asked a counter question: "Do you still believe that we will attack Ukraine from here? Are you still entertaining this crazy idea?"
It was noted that there is an official point of view of the U.S. administration on the exercise. It is well known as it is communicated by Western media. Russia and Belarus have their own position from which they proceed, the head of state noted. "There is the Belarus-Russia treaty. We actually have a single Belarusian-Russian group of forces here, in other words a single army. This is our official position. Please take this position into account as we take yours into account," the president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the United States has military presence in many countries, including those located far away from it and in close proximity to Belarus and Russia, for example, in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. "What are you doing here, thousands of kilometers away? There is nothing to reproach us for. We do not have armed forces in Canada or Mexico. Calm down! You must admit to the entire world community, if you have some integrity left, that you have screwed up. You insisted that Russia and Belarus would invade Ukraine yesterday. We did not. Your intelligence is worthless although you spend billions of dollars on it. Admit at least this," the head of state said.
Ukraine, having realized the economic consequences of the military hysteria and escalation of the situation, began to downplay the threat of war. "The Ukrainian economy has lost fifteen U.S. billions, and Zelensky [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky] tried to play down the threat of invasion, of war. That was how it happened, didn't it? It was just theatrics. The West, together with the leadership of Ukraine, must admit that they screwed up," the Belarusian leader said.
