“Ukraine’s escalation in the Kursk region is an attempt to push Russia into asymmetric actions, let’s say the use of nuclear weapons,” President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview for the News of the Week program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel. He said that Ukraine would be happy if Russia or Belarus were driven to use nuclear weapons, as the entire world would turn against such an action.
He said that NATO’s aim is to “put down” Russia, but Ukraine will not be able to do it without NATO intervention. “Now they are supplying weapons there, mercenaries, former military personnel, so that they can fly F-16s there and so on.” During the interview, President Lukashenko noted that he had deployed one-third of their forces to the border with Ukraine, fearing an attack similar to the Kursk incursion.
“’These are the machines [Iskander tactical ballistic missile systems in Belarus] currently ready for strikes with tactical nuclear weapons.… These are the machines ready to fire missiles with nuclear warheads.… If the situation develops as near Kursk, there will be an escalation, which will result in Ukraine’s elimination,’” Lukashenko warned. He also commented that the “Belarusian-Ukrainian border is mined like never before, the Ukrainian armed forces will be able to cross it only with huge losses.”
