Belarusian President Lukashenko: Russia's military operation did not begin because of NATO.
The Russian president took this step, partly because of the threats emerging in Ukraine.
According to TASS, in an interview with American blogger Mario Naufal, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that the launch of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is not only related to NATO's eastward expansion, but also to emerging threats in Ukraine.
President Lukashenko said: “The issue is not the eastward expansion of NATO, but the threats arising in Ukraine. This is one of the biggest reasons for what has happened.”
According to leader Lukashenko, the Russian President immediately expressed his willingness to negotiate upon seeing the scale of the conflict. The Belarusian President noted that, through negotiations, President Putin wants to reach agreements on NATO, defascism, demilitarization, the elimination of any threat to Russians in Ukraine, and an end to discrimination in the use of the Russian language in Ukraine.
Additionally, on March 4th, President Alexander Lukashenko signed a law ratifying the agreement with Russia on security guarantees within the Union State.
This international treaty provides for mutual guarantees for the implementation of necessary measures in the event 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 by this agreement is broad in nature, in line with current military-political challenges. The fulfillment of obligations requires collective opposition to unilateral economic and other restrictive measures, as well as the use by the parties of their potential relations with other states and other subjects of international law to prevent attacks on security. Many proposals include the application 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 support.
Previously, the bill ratifying the treaty had been passed by the Belarusian Parliament. On February 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law ratifying the agreement between Russia and Belarus on guaranteeing security within the Federal State.
