MINSK, January 25. /TASS/: Belarus needs to create a task force to protect its border with Ukraine where the situation is no more straightforward than at the border with Poland, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.
"To our great regret, our relations with Ukraine are not easy. And we need to establish a corresponding task force there within a short period of time to protect almost 1,500 km of the border with Ukraine, which is a vast expanse. This work that we planned long ago has coincided with the drills that we agreed with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin last year to hold in the south," the Belarusian state-run BelTA news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying at a meeting with members of the National Academy of Sciences.
"I am forced to do that because the situation at the border with Ukraine is no easier than that with the Poles," the Belarusian president said. In particular, he recalled that the republic’s security forces had foiled the attempts of smuggling weapons at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
"It is good that we apprehended these rogues, but what if we had failed to do that?" Lukashenko pointed out.
Belarus is not seeking to escalate the situation with its Union Resolve 2022 joint drills with Russia and is demonstrating its readiness and ability to respond to potential threats, the Belarusian leader stressed.
"Don’t think that we are instigating the situation but if it happens, we must be ready for everything," Lukashenko said.
The Belarusian leader also explained that "it is us and not Russia that need it [the military exercise]." "As a result of these drills, we will see where and what units we need to concentrate," Lukashenko said. "Moreover, it is not someone else’s business, with whom, when and where. These are not illegal drills that we are holding," the Belarusian leader stressed.
Minsk and Moscow are demonstrating their strength with these maneuvers, Lukashenko pointed out. "They [the potential adversary] must see that we are not alone and will be defending ourselves, if need be," the Belarusian leader said.
The Union Resolve 2022 Russia-Belarus drills will run on Belarusian territory on February 10-20.
