Belarus says not going to get involved in Russia-Ukraine war

PanARMENIAN.Net - Belarus is not going to get involved in the war, President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media in Minsk on Thursday, February 24, BelTA has learned.

"I want to emphasize once again: our people should be sure that we will not make any erroneous steps. We will not. We are not going to get involved into the war. Secondly, no one has asked us about it. They are able to figure it out on their own, without us. But I emphasize once again: if necessary, we will provide all possible support," the Belarusian leader said, according to BelTA.

CNN said earlier that it has witnessed, through a livestream video, troops atop a column of military vehicles entering Ukraine from a border crossing with Belarus.

He once again recalled the mutual agreements and obligations of Belarus and Russia within the framework of the Union State. "We are allies, we have a corresponding agreement. There is no reproaching us for this," the Belarusian leader said.

Lukashenko also said Belarus will soon decide on the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk, the two breakaway regions of Ukraine that Russia recognized just days earlier, RBC reports.

“We have this issue on the table, and in the near future we will do what both we and Russia need,” he said.

Also Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko spoke by phone, according to Belarusian state news agency Belta.

"At about 5:00 a.m. today, a telephone conversation took place between the Presidents of Belarus and Russia, during which Vladimir Putin informed his Belarusian counterpart about the situation on the border with Ukraine and in the Donbas," Belta cited the Belarusian presidential press service as saying.