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Belarusian peacekeepers are capable of participating in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if such a need arises, said Alyaksei Skabey, head of the Department of International Military Cooperation and Peacekeeping Activities at the Special Operations Forces Command of the Belarusian Armed Forces, in an interview with STV.
“It will be difficult, but as they say, the eyes are afraid, yet the hands still do the work. However, it all depends not only on us. Everything will depend on how the sides make their decisions. We are ready to provide assistance upon request, from both sides if needed — we are always ready.
In any case, one side or the other must apply if they want it to be under the auspices of the UN — to approach the organization and state that they need the deployment of a peacekeeping contingent on their territory.
Accordingly, it will then be determined which countries will be involved. But everything must be based on a mutual decision. After that, a decision will be made, and the head of state will also take part in deciding on the deployment. In any case, preparation will be required — we won’t just grab our things and fly out immediately; there will be a process of preparation,” he said.
In the same interview, Skobey admitted that relations between Belarusian peacekeepers and the UN are not currently going well. He noted that the Belarusian contingent had previously taken part in a mission in Lebanon.
“Raising our flag in a given country shows that we are open and committed to the obligations made once at the UN Assembly. We are a member of the organization — that already says a lot. Participation in such activities also gives our servicemen valuable experience. As for readiness, I can say with 100% confidence that as soon as we receive the relevant decision, we will be ready to move to a particular region to carry out our tasks.
As for peacekeeping itself, the personnel of the peacekeeping company include a number of individual servicemen, myself among them. I can give my own example — participation in the United Nations Interim Force in the Lebanese Republic. Most of our participants were from the special-purpose medical unit — medics who provided assistance within their means.
I personally served as a staff officer. The main task was to train the Lebanese Armed Forces — to help them form operational units. This was meant to restore the capabilities of the armed forces to perform their duties so that the UN representatives currently deployed in Lebanon could eventually leave after completing their mandate and hand the territory back to the country’s own authorities,” he said.
However, Belarusian troops are not currently taking part in any mission.
“Our relations with the UN are somewhat more complicated now, to be honest. We have slightly suspended this work. A decision was made for Belarusian personnel to withdraw from the mission for the time being, but we are conducting negotiations at the highest political and military levels with representatives of other countries.
For example, with nations of the so-called ‘far arc’ — Indonesia and the Republic of India — about expanding our participation, even as part of their contingents, in activities to maintain international peace and security in various regions,” he concluded.