MINSK. Aug 17 (Interfax) - Belarus must be involved in talks on Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.
"We border Ukraine, we are de facto 'co-aggressors,' as you say in the West. Naturally, we have our interests here, and our position should be heard," Lukashenko was quoted as saying by BelTA on Thursday in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko.
"Therefore, I don't rule out that Belarus must, has to be involved in the negotiation process (the level is not being discussed today)," he said.
In the meantime, Lukashenko said Belarus is not planning to get involved in the conflict in Ukraine, but will always help the Russian Federation.
"Fifty-five countries are helping you [Ukraine], and only Belarus is helping Russia in this way, openly," he said.
Minsk "will never be involved" in the conflict if the Ukrainian army does not cross the Belarusian border, he said.
"But we will always help Russia," Lukashenko said.
In the event of aggression against Belarus, the response will be instant and the country may inflict "intolerable damage" on Western countries, Lukashenko also said.
"There can only be one threat - aggression against our country. If Poland, Lithuania [or] Latvia undertake aggression against our country, we will retaliate instantly using everything we have. You know, we have something [available]. And the strike will be intolerable," he said during the interview.
"We are not competing with them. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia have NATO behind them. Of course, we understand that the forces are incomparable. But we will carry out a strike that will be intolerable for them, and they will sustain unacceptable damage. That is the foundation of our security concept," Lukashenko said.
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