Maksym Dzhigun noted that this is only a diplomatic gesture.

Alexander Lukashenko’s statement that the Belarusian army will join the war launched by the Russian Federation if there is an attack on Belarus was not made by chance. These words were said for the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.

“I believe that this phrase was not said by chance. It was uttered on the eve of Lukashenko’s visit to Russia. It is such a diplomatic gesture to Putin that “no matter how you persuade me to join again, I have already made a public statement and refused these intentions”. That is, this is reinsurance on the part of Lukashenka so that Putin has less desire to somehow break Lukashenka at the knee and force him to enter the war, so this is nothing more than a warning from the self-proclaimed president of Belarus that he is involved in this will not take,” said political expert Maksym Dzhigun in a comment to TSN.

At the same time, he believes that the president of the Russian Federation is using Belarus to blackmail Ukraine, because he understands that the threat of an attack on Ukraine from the north is a destabilizing factor. According to the expert, the authorities of Ukraine should keep the military on the northern border in order to deter a full-scale offensive.

“Putin still wants to use Belarus as a factor of blackmail for Ukraine. Because the global tension about a possible attack from the northwestern regions of Ukraine on our territories does not subside. This disperses our efforts on other fronts, requires certain financial costs in order to to occupy in order to set up defense echelons. This is a destabilizing factor for us. Putin understands this perfectly and in this way is simply delaying his defeat on other fronts, preventing the Ukrainian military with large resources and larger forces from fully going on the offensive,” Dzhigun concluded.

The war in Ukraine – the participation of Belarus in Russian aggression

Oleksandr Lukashenko declared that he is ready to enter the war on the side of the Russian Federation, but only in one case. The dictator stressed that this applies not only to Ukraine, but also to other neighboring countries.

In turn, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes that Belarus will not enter the war against Ukraine.