Lukashenko comments on reasons for possible deployment of Russian troops in Belarus

Russian troops may be deployed in Belarus if a new world war is imminent. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement during a meeting with representatives of the general public, experts, and mass media titled as the Big Conversation with the President on 9 August, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “If necessary, it will not be just a base here. All the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will be deployed here. In what conditions? If a new world war is imminent.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that multiple NATO bases are located in countries of the European Union and pro-Western countries, some of them store nuclear weapons. They will be put on combat alert if the slightest danger is present. However, if the deployment of Russian military bases in Belarus is contemplated, the West starts worrying. “Why do you care if a Russian base is deployed in Belarus? We don’t need a base here. President [of Russia Vladimir Putin] and I decided it a long time ago. Why do you care if your bases are all over the place and nuclear weapons are mentioned? Why do you make conditions for us? Clean up your own act first,” the president stressed.

The head of state pointed out that it is disadvantageous for Belarus and Russia to deploy Russian bases in Belarus at present, there is absolutely no sense in that. “Russia will never redeploy its nuclear warheads here: they would be under fire from Poland and Lithuania then,” Aleksandr Lukashenko explained.

“But if need be, all the Armed Forces will be here because Belarus is not a foreign land for Russia regardless of who the president is here. And it will not be a foreign land,” the Belarusian leader is convinced.