dpa
Berlin
Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko emphasized his country’s peaceful intentions while on a visit to Grodno on the border with Poland and Lithuania on Tuesday.
“We don’t have to threaten anyone. We don’t want any foreign territory,” he said in remarks reported by the presidential office.
“Don’t believe anyone who says that we want to fight,” Lukashenko called out on laying the foundation stone for a hospital. But he added: “We are readying ourselves for war, and I say that openly.”
Lukashenko said that Belarus was equipping its military for the possibility of attack, accusing NATO members Poland and Lithuania of preparing for war by constructing fortifications and purchasing offensive weapons, he said.
The Belarusian president assured the residents of Grodno, which was Polish territory between the wars: “You belong to us. We will not give you up to anyone.”
A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko allowed Belarus to be used for the deployment of Russian forces for the invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022.
At Gomel, at the opposite end of Belarus on the border to Russia and Ukraine, the Belarus Home Guard began a three-day exercise to test the readiness of its officers, according to the Defence Ministry in Minsk.
The recruitment of volunteers for defence during times of war is also to be exercised.
