MINSK, 23 March (BelTA) - The Western media is again spreading news of possible Belarus' participation in the Russian special operation in Ukraine. This time it was CNN that produced such ‘news', BelTA has learned.
The U.S. media outlet, citing some unnamed sources of the United States and NATO, claims that, according to the alliance's assessments, Belarus is going to join Russia in its special military operation in Ukraine soon. Surprisingly, the channel's sources admit that they had not seen "any indications that the Belarusians are preparing to move in -- into Ukraine or that they have made any agreements to do that”, RIA Novosti reports.
Here it seems fitting to recall the memorable interview of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to CNN's Matthew Chance in the autumn of 2021. "Matthew, you are lying," the head of state said when answering one of his questions then.
Especially for Matthew and his colleagues, BelTA has collected the statements made by Belarusian president about the "participation" of Belarusian troops in the hostilities in Ukraine.
17 March. Interview to Japanese TV channel TBS
“There is not a single Belarusian soldier in Ukraine. Despite their hostile stance towards Belarus, encouraged by the West (we turned this page), I called Zelensky and offered him to immediately enter into negotiations with Russia. Literally on the third or fourth day of this war," the head of state said.“In other words, we don't attack Ukraine, we don't bomb Ukraine. We advocate negotiations. We would like these negotiations to end in this hall [the interview took place in the Green Hall of the Palace of Independence where Normandy Four talks took place in 2015 and where the Minsk agreements on resolving the conflict in Ukraine were worked out].
“We would like peace to be over there. If there is no peace over there, there will be no peace in Belarus with the passage of time. It is our position,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.
15 March. Meeting with representatives of the Belarusian state security bodies
“As for Ukraine, you are closely following the situation. I want to emphasize once again (you know this better than other people): we are not going to get involved in the operation that Russia is carrying out in Ukraine. The most important thing is that there is no need for this,” the president said.
“Well, how can we reinforce Russia there? As for the military personnel, they have enough manpower of their own. Can we reinforce Russia in terms of weapons? No, we buy all weapons from the Russian Federation. They have it all, and even better than ours. Therefore, we have nothing to do there. And we are not invited there,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
4 March. Ceremony to sign the decision of the national constitutional referendum
“However hard individual forces (you know them) may try to get us involved in combat operations in Ukraine, you have no reasons to worry. Let me stress it once again: we use our forces to cover the state border from Brest to Mozyr. The Belarusian army has not participated in Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and does not intend to participate in it. There is no need for it. In addition to the border from Brest to Gomel we also have the western border and the northwestern one. And we have to cover it reliably. Because the nation will not forgive us if we fail there,” the head of state noted.
Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed out that those trying to get Belarus involved in combat operations in Ukraine's territory do not want peace over there. “They need a war over there and the longer the war is, the better it is. In order to drown Russia and simultaneously us in this war. So that Ukraine wouldn't even move. This is what they need. All the other things, the statements… Those are just clap trap for those, who don't understand. We understand it perfectly well. And we are not going to expose ourselves to their desires. We simply understand what we need, how we should live and work,” he said.
“We will fight and die in our land. If we have to, god forbid,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
