Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: I don’t want war and do everything to prevent it

MOGILEV, 28 May (BelTA) – Addressing the Belarus Media Forum in Mogilev on 28 May, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he does not want war and is doing everything to prevent it from happening, BelTA has learned.

“I don’t want any war. I am sure that the overwhelming majority [of people] in Belarus do not want war, either,” said the head of state. Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that he keeps explaining how terrible any war is using simple examples. “Not a single Belarusian wants to ruin their life and rot in the trenches,” the president remarked. “That’s why I don’t want war and I do everything I can to prevent it from happening.”

Indeed, there is a lot of talk in the country about the dangers of the current moment, about various kinds of alarming signals, about the high likelihood of a violent confrontation, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. He partially attributes it to the history of the Great Patriotic War that the country’s authorities failed to predict and get ready for. “That’s why we should be on the alert. I keep telling the military: we must be prepared for this. That’s why we are beefing up our western border,” the head of state explained. Taking into account the experience of the Brest Fortress that was seized by the enemy at the very beginning of the war, Belarus is now building defensive structures further from the border, so that Belarusian soldiers, if attacked, could hold out there as long as possible.

“I use [mass media] as a tool to explain to people what is happening and to convey my response. This does not mean that Lukashenko is an ‘aggressor’, as they call me, especially in Poland, and wants war. I reject war even more vehemently than millions of Belarusians,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

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