For the first time, the President of Belarus spoke about the deployment of Russian troops on the territory of the republic.
According to BelTA, today at a meeting with local activists on topical issues of the socio-political situation, Alexander Lukashenko said that he was ready to allow the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces in Belarus, although the issue of the deployment of Russian bases in the republic had not been discussed earlier at the presidential level.
“If it is necessary for the security of the Union State that we are building, for the security of Belarus and Russia, to deploy here all the armed forces with all types of weapons, they will be deployed here immediately. Now there is no need for this, we have a fairly strong, cohesive, compact Armed Forces. Apart from the “territorials,” we can put 500 thousand people under arms at the right moment in a short period of time, and this is already power. If there is not enough, all the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will be brought in here. This will never happen. But if necessary, we will not hesitate”, the Belarusian leader emphasized.
In addition, according to Lukashenko, with modern types of weapons, it does not matter where the troops are located, and therefore no negotiations have been held on this topic with Russian President Vladimir Putin so far.
“The issue of placing Russian bases in Belarus has never been discussed at the presidential level. First of all, because there is no need for this with modern weapons”, – said the President of Belarus.