Belarus moved a third of its army to the border with Ukraine earlier in the summer, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview on Aug. 15.
Speaking to the Rossiya TV channel, Lukashenko claimed it was in response to a build-up of Ukrainian troops that had been prompted by a misinterpretation of preparations for Belarus's Independence Day celebrations on July 3.
Lukashenko claims that in the lead-up to the event, large numbers of men and materiel were moved from positions both inside Belarus and Russia in order to take part in the event.
The Belarusian dictator claims Kyiv and its Western allies interpreted this as a possible redeployment for a repeat of the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion when some of Moscow's forces launched their attack from Belarus.
"They thought that ‘Putin will attack from the territory of Belarus again'," he said.
He claimed that Ukraine keeps 120,000 troops on the border with Belarus which were then "boosted" with even more troops.
"In response, I had to redeploy almost a third of the army to reinforce the border," he added.
Lukashenko said he later managed to speak to Ukrainian officials through special channels and the situation was resolved through diplomatic means.
"They withdrew those additional forces. We also withdrew the additional forces we had brought in," he said.
Despite the tale of rare cooperation between Ukraine and Belarus, the rest of the interview took a far more hostile tone, with Lukashenko once again fully backing Russia and Putin in their agression against Ukraine.
He also said that if Belarus comes under ground attack, it could use the tactical nuclear weapons that Russia reportedly placed in Belarus in 2023.
Lukashenko also accused – without offering any evidence – "high ranking" people "of American origin" of stoking the war with the aim of destroying all three countries.
Maria Yeryoma
(Updated: )
