Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: Belarus does not want war, stands ready to defend its sovereignty

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MINSK, 23 February (BelTA) – Belarus is not going to attack anyone but stands ready to respond in case of aggression, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview with Chinese media, BelTA has learned.

"Militarily, we stand ready to respond. We stand ready to give the toughest response. We have communicated this position not only to Ukraine, but also to the UK and the United States of America. I hope that I will have the opportunity to inform France (after all, a nuclear power) about our position. We stand ready to defend the sovereignty and independence of our country. We don't want war. We want peace here. We want to live peacefully and cooperate with those who want to cooperate with us," the head of state said.

The president stressed that the people of Belarus are very peace-loving. "We know what war is. We lost a third of our population in the last war, which was, in fact, someone else's war. Napoleon passed through our territory during his march to Russia leaving Belarus in ruins. The First World War’s theater of operations was here. In terms of the Second World War (the Great Patriotic War for us) the theater of military operations was mainly in Belarus. We do not want any war," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

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