MINSK, 8 August (BelTA) - The operation in Kursk Oblast was a military miscalculation for Ukraine, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with TIME Magazine, BelTA learned.
The journalist recalled Ukraine's August 2024 incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast. In this context, he asked why Belarus hadn't supported its ally, given their binding military commitments, particularly the mutual security guarantees agreement within the framework of the Union State.
“You see, it wasn’t Ukraine attacking Russia. That’s perhaps your interpretation. What kind of attack was it? War was ongoing, a clash occurred. We have differing assessments of the origins of this war. The fighting was already underway. In combat, sides advance and retreat. Moreover, we properly assessed the situation. There was no need for our involvement,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “I knew exactly how the Russians would act when liberating the Kursk land. Putin informed me. I knew there would be an operation, and I knew what forces would be involved. So any talk of us participating in combat... It wasn’t an attack. It was a battle. During this engagement, they exploited Russia’s defensive gaps – sectors manned solely by border guards without regular troop reinforcements. They identified this vulnerability and advanced into Kursk Oblast with substantial forces.”
“Strategically, Putin was right. At the time, I didn’t believe when he said it was a military mistake. In fact, they [Ukraine] committed massive forces there. And not just any forces: their best-trained units. They advanced. Now, practically all of those Ukrainian armed forces have been destroyed. They achieved no gains. And they left other frontline sectors exposed,” the president noted.
He further stated that had Belarus become involved in combat operations, it would have led to significantly different political and military consequences.
“Russia fully understands (we certainly do) that if we openly enter the war, we’ll face far greater problems. Russia understands perfectly well that it would be very hard for us to defend this extended border, especially since it wouldn’t just be Ukrainians fighting us. This would become a pretext for NATO sending troops into Ukraine. The fact is, mercenaries or rather, Western personnel disguised as mercenaries in massive numbers (Germans, French, British, Poles, and others) would flood in. We’d then have to engage against what would effectively NATO forces. We understand this perfectly well,” the head of state said. “Next. They will hammer Belarus will missiles. We’re right next door. We understand this. And so do the Russians.”
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, this matter doesn't even warrant discussion with Russian leadership. Both the president and military commanders fully comprehend the situation.
“Incidentally, CIA Director Burns visited us. I told him plainly: we have no intention of going to war or crossing border but we are assisting Russia here,” the president emphasized. “His main concern was whether Belarus would be dragged into the war, border issues and such. I told him: ‘Look, we haven’t even had that kind of discussion with Russia.’ But, I added, there are things we can do here and we’re doing them. The Americans already knew. We weren’t hiding it. We were training personnel. Well, I pointed out: ‘You [Americans] are training Ukrainians, their pilots. And not just Americans. But also British, Germans, and others. ‘Yes, we are,’ he admitted. ‘Alright,’ he said, ‘then we'll drop this claim. But you're not planning to cross the border and fight in Ukraine, are you?’ ‘No, we have no such plans.’ This was essentially my conversation with Burns. This remains our position.
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