Lukashenko: After the exercise, we will choose directions of deploying armed forces

14 февраля 2022
Belarus-Ukraine relations are in the spotlight today. Official Minsk is not interested in the tension in the Belarusian-Ukrainian relations and will adhere to the principles of good neighborliness in the future. This was stated by Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with well-known politician and statesman of Ukraine Alexander Moroz. Minsk and Kiev are experiencing a difficult period in bilateral contacts. The unfriendly statements of the Ukrainian authorities every now and then inflame the situation. 

Alexander Lukashenko wonders how such rhetoric against his neighbor is possible at all. But the answer is obvious both for the President and the Ukrainian guest: everything that happens in the region is dictated by the transatlantic influence. There is also much speculation around the exercises of Minsk and Moscow. The head of state stresses that the military maneuvers are a preventive defense of the allied border. They are not a secret for the world community. And it is the sovereign right of the Allies to decide when and in what composition to begin the exercises, when to end them, and when to withdraw their troops. The Presidents intend to discuss this in a face-to-face meeting in the near future. 

The President stated Belarus' non-involvement in the aggravation of relations with Ukraine

And who would have thought that the Ukrainian border would be a high-risk zone. The exercises of Minsk and Moscow were only a response to these risks. Ukraine is not at all a target for Russian and Belarusian equipment. This has been said, it seems, a hundred times. But the President is ready to repeat where this wind is blowing from. 

President: it's hard to comprehend what Ukrainian authorities are doing against Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko recollects the almost lightning-fast Ukrainian response to the landing of the Ryanair flight in Minsk and the supplies of the Belarusian products. They say it is strange, but Ukraine is not against working even at the expense of the national economy. But Minsk seems to be ready to turn the other cheek, in the sense that it is not in our nature to turn our backs on our neighbors. And it is  in our nature to build, but not to destroy. It is well known in Minsk. But it seems to be forgotten in Kiev.