Lukashenko: Russian armed forces will be deployed in Belarus if necessary
The self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that if necessary, Russian bases can be created on the territory of Belarus, reports BelTA news agency.
"They accuse us that Lukashenka wants to place Russian bases on the territory of Belarus. Listen, we're not stressing about the fact that they have created a bunch of these bases in Europe. It’s their sea. Why are you making claims against us?", Lukashenka said.
At the same time, he noted that establishing Russian bases in Belarus has never been discussed, since there is no need for this "with modern weapons.
However, Lukashenka stressed that if this is required for the "security of the Union State", then Russian forces will be deployed on the territory of Belarus immediately.
"Now there is no need for this, we have a fairly strong, cohesive, compact Armed Forces. Not counting the "territorial defines units". We conscript 500,000 people in a short period of time, and this is force," Lukashenka said.
According to him, if the Belarusian Armed Forces are not enough, Russian soldiers will be brought into the country.
"This will never happen. But, if necessary, we will not think," he added.
Lukashenka also reminded that last year during the protests in the country, he did not bring in the Armed Forces "neither from Russia nor from Ukraine" and dealt with this "trouble" himself.
Lukashenko said that Europe is pushing the world to the brink of the Third World War.