'Attack on Belarus is World War III,' Lukashenko claims amid calls for changes to Russian nuclear doctrine
An attack on Belarus would lead to World War III, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed on Sept. 27, following Russian President Vladimir Putin's call to update Russia's nuclear doctrine, according to the Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta.
Putin proposed a series of changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine on Sept. 25 during a Security Council meeting on nuclear deterrence.
He announced that Russia could respond to conventional missile strikes with nuclear weapons and indicated that Moscow would treat any attack backed by a nuclear-armed country as a coordinated assault.
He also stated that Russia retains the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of an attack, including if an enemy using conventional weapons poses a critical threat to Russia and Belarus.
"An attack on Belarus is World War III," Lukashenko said.
"Putin recently confirmed this by amending the nuclear doctrine, that in an attack on Russia and Belarus, we use nuclear weapons," Lukashenko added, thanking his Russian counterpart for the recent move.
The Belarusian dictator claimed that NATO countries had allegedly deployed troops on the border with Belarus, specifically in Poland.
"The red line is the state border. If you step on it, there will be an immediate response. We are preparing for that," Lukashenko said.
Russia's decision to modify its nuclear doctrine is a direct response to discussions in the U.S. and U.K. about whether to allow Ukraine to launch conventional Western missiles into Russian territory.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sept. 26 that updates had been made to a document titled "The Foundations of State Policy in the Sphere of Nuclear Deterrence."
While Belarus doesn't have nuclear weapons of its own, Russia has allegedly moved some of its nuclear arsenal to Belarus.
