Łukašenka says he can field half a million troops in case of war

February 16, BPN. The Belarusian army can increase its force from 75,000 to 500,000 in case of war, Alaksandr Łukašenka has told foreign journalists in Minsk.

He blamed the West for pushing Belarus into Russia’s war on Ukraine to allegedly “stretch the front by additional 2,500 kilometers and complicate the situation for Russian and Belarusian troops.”

“We won’t give you that chance,” Łukašenka’s press office quoted him as saying. “But if only you dare to step on our soil, the answer will be dire. The Westerners know exactly what [it will be] and with what weapons.”

Łukašenka stressed the need to negotiate peace before “this aggression escalates.”

Not a single Belarusian soldier is involved in the war today, he said. “I don’t send people there and I’m not going to do it,” he added.

In February 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Łukašenka admitted that Belarus participated in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but said it was “not killing anyone.” A 20,000-strong grouping of Russian forces crossed into Ukraine from Belarus at the outset of the war. Russian troops retreated from northern Ukraine later.

Authorities in Minsk denied Belarusian army troops’ involvement in combat operations on the Russian side. However, Belarus allowed Russian troops and weapons to move freely through the country, use its airspace, refuel and store military equipment and attack Ukraine from its territory.