May 15 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Russia was seeking to draw Belarus deeper into its war in Ukraine and was weighing plans to attack Ukraine’s north or a NATO country from Belarusian territory.
“We continue to document Russia’s attempts to draw Belarus deeper into the war against Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app after meeting military and intelligence officials.
He said Ukraine knew of additional contacts between Russia and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to persuade him to join “new Russian aggressive operations”.
“Russia is considering plans for operations to the south and north of Belarusian territory – either against the Chernihiv-Kyiv direction in Ukraine or against one of the NATO countries directly from the territory of Belarus,” he said, without providing any further details.
Belarus borders Ukraine to the south, and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to the north and west.
There was no immediate response to Zelenskiy’s comments from Moscow or Minsk. Moscow does not disclose its military plans in Ukraine, which are classified as state secrets.
Lukashenko, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowed his territory to be used for part of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour, although he has not sent Belarusian troops to fight there.
Minsk has since agreed to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons and hypersonic Oreshnik missiles on its territory.
Zelenskiy said last month that Ukraine had intelligence that Russia was making preparations that showed it would once again try to involve Belarus in its more than four-year-old war.
“Ukraine will undoubtedly defend itself and its people if Alexander Lukashenko makes the wrong call and decides to support this Russian intention as well,” he said.
Zelenskiy said he had instructed Ukraine’s defence forces to prepare a response plan and to strengthen defences in the northern Chernihiv and Kyiv regions.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
