The Belarusian Ministry of Defense confirmed, on Tuesday, its readiness to respond to any military provocation on its borders.
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said: “A large build-up of the Ukrainian army is near our borders.”
She added, “We will conduct 150 joint military exercises with Russian forces in 2023.”
On Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed the situation under which his country would enter the war on the side of Russia.
The official Belta news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying that he would not order his forces to fight alongside Russia unless another country launched an attack on his country.
Lukashenko said in a press conference: “I am ready to fight with the Russians from the lands of Belarus only in one case: if even one soldier comes to the lands of Belarus to kill my people.”
“If they attack Belarus, the response will be the most violent, and the war will take on a completely different nature,” he added.
A flurry of military activity and joint air exercises between Russia and Belarus earlier this year fueled fears that Minsk may be preparing to play a bigger role in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
In early February, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked his government to negotiate with Minsk to establish joint military training centers with Belarus.
Putin assigned the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs to negotiate with their Belarusian counterparts to establish these centers, without further details.
Russia has kept about 10,000 soldiers in Belarus, and the two countries have regularly conducted joint exercises as part of their military alliance.
