Владимир Зеленский. Фото: t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there is currently a risk of Belarus being further drawn into the war against Ukraine. He made the remarks at a closed meeting with journalists, Glavkom reported.
He noted that Russia has used Belarusian territory for air corridors and technical support for attacks, including the launch of drones against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to him, Ukrainian services have taken steps to reduce the effectiveness of this infrastructure.
Kyiv is particularly concerned about the deployment of new weapons on Belarusian territory, which may already be partially present in the country, the Ukrainian leader said. Ukraine views this as a serious threat and a sign of preparations for escalation and is therefore taking countermeasures to mitigate the risks.
“We believe there are risks associated with drawing Belarusians into the war. All this time, Russia has been building various air corridors that the Russians used during attacks on our energy sector. First of all, these were strike drones. This included technical support and technical equipment on antennas on the territory of Belarus that helped the drones. Ukraine worked on this issue and found ways to deal with some of the antennas to reduce the scale of attacks against us.
But we cannot deal with the Oreshnik issue as quietly as we dealt with the antennas on the territory of Belarus. And our signal is that Oreshnik is already there, fully or partially. Preparatory and technical work has been carried out there. We understand this clearly. And there has been our use of missiles against Kapustin Yar, where the Russians keep the relevant weapons. Therefore, this is our message to Belarus: you could be drawn into this war, and the Russians want that,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president also expressed hope that representatives of Belarus’s democratic forces, including Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, would convey to the international community information about attempts to draw their country into the war.
“We hope that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other representatives of the Belarusian people will speak to Europeans, speak to other peoples and states — and they meet often — that Belarus is being drawn into the war. Because Oreshnik is no longer antennas. We did everything to ensure the antennas did not work, and we will certainly do everything to ensure that Oreshnik does not even begin to operate. This is a threat to us. And we want to use all instruments to prevent this. If Russia manages to fully draw another country into this war — Belarus — it would be a great tragedy,” Zelenskyy said.
According to him, Ukraine is sending various signals to Belarusians urging them not to allow themselves to be drawn into hostilities, emphasizing shared European values and regional security. Full involvement of Belarus in the war could become a major tragedy for both peoples.
Zelenskyy also noted that after the first missile strikes from Belarusian territory, Minsk shifted responsibility to Russia. However, he said that now, when it comes to new types of weapons and drones, explaining their appearance solely by the actions of Russian forces will be significantly more difficult.