Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that Moscow would be “forced” to answer in kind if the US deployed new medium- and short-range missiles in Europe amid its recent withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has stated that Minsk together with Moscow will have to think about retaliatory measures if the US places medium and short-range missiles in Europe, and it will be even worse if missiles are placed in Ukraine.
“I am afraid that the Americans will seize the moment, as they have broken this agreement the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and they will deploy missiles in Europe. There will be hell to pay for us. Therefore, we together with Russia will need to think about response measures. You cannot run away from this, if it happens. And it will be worse if these missiles are placed God forbid, hypothetically on the territory of Ukraine”, Lukashenko said as quoted by the state agency Belta.