Belarus President Lukashenko: Russia's military campaign began not because of NATO

According to TASS news agency, in an interview with American blogger Mario Naufal, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the emergence of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is not only related to NATO's expansion to the East, but also related to emerging threats in Ukraine.

“The problem is not NATO’s expansion to the East, but the threats that have arisen in Ukraine. This is one of the biggest reasons for what happened,” said President Lukashenko.

According to leader Lukashenko, the Russian President immediately showed his readiness for negotiations when he saw the scale of the conflict. The Belarusian President noted that through negotiations, President Putin wants to reach agreements on NATO, de-fascism, demilitarization, no more threats to Russians in Ukraine, and also end discrimination in the use of the Russian language in Ukraine.

Additionally, on March 4, President Alexander Lukashenko signed a law ratifying an agreement with Russia on security guarantees in the Union State.

This international treaty provides for mutual guarantees for taking necessary measures in case of attacks on the security of Belarus and Russia, as well as the entire Union State.

According to the press office of the President of Belarus, the cooperation formed under this agreement is of a wide-ranging nature, in line with current military-political challenges. The implementation of obligations requires a collective rejection of unilateral restrictive economic and other measures, as well as the use by the parties of the potential of their relations with other states and other subjects of international law to prevent attacks on security. Many proposals include the adoption of countermeasures not only against acts of aggression, but also against threats of such acts, as well as the immediate provision of necessary military, military-technical and other assistance.

Earlier, the bill ratifying the treaty was passed by the Belarusian Parliament. On February 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law ratifying the agreement between Russia and Belarus on ensuring security in the Union State.