MINSK, 21 July (BelTA) – The West is the real aggressor in the conflict with Russia, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with AFP in Minsk on 21 July, BelTA has learned.
"You accuse me of being an aggressor. And you are what? You're supplying weapons there. 20,000 mercenaries, including from France, have gone to fight there. You are the real aggressors!" Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.
Neither Belarus' hardware nor manpower is used in Ukraine's conflict, the president noted. The head of state admitted that strikes on Ukrainian military facilities were carried out from the Belarusian territory, but this was done for preventive purposes. "Why did they deploy four divisions on the border? Why did they target us?” he asked. “Are you saying that I had to sit and wait until missiles began to fall on the heads of Belarusian people? No, I did not."
"Russia has pre-empted you, and I support it in this. If Russia's military had missed that point, it would have been forced to face a massive blow from NATO, not from Ukraine. Now it is not Ukraine that is fighting. Now you are fighting there, with your mercenaries and your weapons. So you are aggressors, not me," the head of state added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that Belarus is involved in the Russian operation, but its role is to protect the rear, that's it. "Yes, we're involved in the operation. But how? We defend the west, the south-west of Belarus, so that you would not stab the Russians in the back from there. Indeed, we treated the wounded, we admitted the dead. We have given medicines both to Ukrainians and Russians. We still do. This is what our involvement in this operation is about. We do not kill people," the Belarusian leader stressed.
