Belarusian president says his nation refrains from using nuclear weapons unless its borders violated

MOSCOW

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday that his country could resort to using nuclear weapons if its borders are breached by an enemy.

"When tactical nuclear weapons appeared here, I told foreign adversaries directly – we will not use any weapons unless you cross our state border," Lukashenko said in an interview with the Vesti Nedeli program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel. A fragment of the interview was published by the BelTA news agency.

Lukashenko emphasized that Belarus' response to any border violation would be immediate, with no red lines holding them back.

"We do not seek escalation, and we do not want a war with NATO. We don't want this," he reiterated. "But if they cross that line and invade, we will have no other choice. There will be no red lines. Our state border is the line. The moment it is crossed, as a border guard, I can assure you that the response will be instant."

The Belarusian leader added that this response has been prepared and is "ready by order, as it should be."