Lukashenko: Belarus will respond to aggression without hesitation

MINSK, 14 June (BelTA) - Belarus is ready for any development of events and will respond to aggression without hesitation, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview to the Rossiya 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.

 "No one has ever fought against a nuclear country, a country that possesses nuclear weapons. We are peaceful people; Belarus has had enough of wars. We have a beautiful, neat and tidy country. Russians are happy to visit us," the president said. “But we are located in the center of Europe. That's our problem. We are on the way when they go east and back. Therefore, the situation is not easy, and we are ready for anything."

 The head of state stressed that Belarus will respond to any aggression against it. "We already have enough power to respond," he said. “Many people say: ‘Well, it is Batka. You know him..." Indeed, I am like that when it comes to my people, my state. I will not allow the ten-million country, which we worked very hard to develop for a quarter of a century, to be torn to pieces. How many Russians are here? Three million on a regular basis. So these are 13 million people, and I am responsible for them. Therefore, I will not hesitate in the event of an aggression against us."

 "Are skirmishes on the border not an aggression? Is the attack on Machulishchi not an aggression?" the journalist asked.

 "No, this is far from aggression. We will cope with Machulishchi type things and with border skirmishes. These are provocations," Aleksandr Lukashenko said. Even the events in Belgorod Oblast of Russia, according to him, are far from aggression. "These are strong provocation and these are our shortcomings," he said. “We are fixing them. We are sorting these problems out."

 The president said that Belarus and Russia are working together in this direction, suppressing various threats, though there are scant reports about this in the media. For example, recently the special services identified a saboteur, were tracking him and later, detained him in Smolensk.