MINSK, August 18. /TASS/. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko told the Security Council on Tuesday that the country’s troops along the Western border had been put on full combat alert.
He warned that tensions were being fanned near the country’s Western borders. Earlier, Lukashenko said that the Western countries were building up military strength in the region.
"Some of our citizens interpreted this as an attempt to fan tensions. There is nothing of the kind observed near our Western borders, they said. But I believe that yesterday evening and last night you had a chance to see that it was not an attempt to fan tensions, but a precise and correct response. We should’ve borne this mind and take it into account long ago. There have been statements by Western officials, including the leaders of some states, who have no idea where Belarus is or what is happening here. But nevertheless, they make such statements," the news agency BelTA quotes Lukashenko as saying.
"These statements indicate that when we discussed this issue at the Defense Ministry, the president was right. And, thank God, we reacted to this and deployed the combat units of our army on the Western borders and put them on full combat alert. The defense minister has reported to me that all this has been done and the units concerned are ready to cope with their duties," Lukashenko said.
"In other words, today we have problems not only inside, but also around us. We can see quite clearly that these are absolutely coordinated actions. It’s not the peak yet. Events will be developing accordingly, but we understand in what direction," he stated.
Belarus held a presidential election on August 9. According to the final results announced by the Central Election Commission, Alexander Lukashenko emerged the winner with 80.1% of the votes. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, described by some as his main rival, received 10.12%. She said she did not recognize the results. As soon as early returns were announced, mass protest demonstrations followed in Belarussian cities. There were some clashes with police. Earlier, a number of Western countries declared they would not recognize the results of the Belarussian election.