Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the escalation from Ukraine is pushing Russia to take asymmetric measures, including the use of nuclear weapons.
"Ukraine's escalation in the Kursk region is an attempt to push Russia into asymmetric actions, let's say the use of nuclear weapons." Lukashenko said.
Iskander tactical ballistic missile systems in Belarus are ready to fire missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, Alexander Lukashenko said.
"These are the machines currently ready for strikes with tactical nuclear weapons … These are the machines ready to fire missiles with nuclear warheads," Lukashenko said in an interview.
The Belarusian leader said Ukraine had deployed over 120,000 troops on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, a move that Minsk retaliated with boosting forces along the entire border.
The Belarusian-Ukrainian border is mined like never before, the Ukrainian armed forces will be able to cross it only with huge losses, Lukashenko added.
Moreover, Ukrainian drones are constantly violating the southeastern border of Belarus, Lukashenko added.
According to Lukashenko, the defense of the western border of Belarus has been worked out by Minsk and Moscow, and if necessary, this plan could be changed into an offensive one.
Lukashenko has said that negotiations on Ukraine should start where they ended in Istanbul.
"Let's sit down at the negotiating table and stop this fighting - neither the Ukrainian people, nor the Russians, nor the Belarusians need it... We need to sit down at the negotiating table, the immediate question is where to start. The right thing is to start from where we left off in Istanbul," Lukashenko said.