Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: I am sure there will be no shooting war

MINSK, 10 February (BelTA) – At the meeting to announce personnel decisions on 10 February Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he believes there will be no shooting war, BelTA has learned.

“Everyone is talking about it. The military, the military, the military ... Maybe we somewhat played up the war theme. But what we were supposed to do? To keep silent? In this case, if something happens, people will ask us: why did you overlook it, why did you not tell us about it? Therefore, when analyzing my decisions and actions, I often think: maybe we are talking too much about it? But how not to talk about it when such a situation is unfolding around us? I am absolutely convinced that there will be no shooting war. We like comfort too much. Will people want to leave their comfort zone and start fighting? ... I think, Pavel [Pavel Muraveiko, who was appointed first deputy state secretary of the Security Council], you know better than me what it means to fight. You have probably sat in trenches, shot, crawled in tactical exercises, and so on,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“Therefore, I do not think [that there will be a shooting war]. We won’t fight unless some crazy Nazis in Ukraine stage a provocation. For now, this war is nowhere near,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

At the same time, he is convinced that people should be kept updated on current developments.

“They [potential adversaries] are testing the waters with a helicopter, or a plane, or a drone flying into our airspace, to say nothing of people crossing the border and so on. Therefore, not only an information warfare and an economic warfare were launched against us. They embarked on a hybrid war after this riot [the events of August 2020],” the head of state said.

Addressing Pavel Muraveiko, the Belarusian head of state noted that it is necessary to exercise serious control over the army: “You know better than anyone else what is happening in the troops. Yet, you do not have to accommodate those who recommended you for this role. You are the president’s man now, and you should look at the Armed Forces through my eyes. Not only at the army. Yesterday they recommended you, but tomorrow they should understand that you should be impartial in relation to the Armed Forces,” the president said.

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