MINSK, June 27. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that Minsk is by no means preparing any provocations ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, although it could do that even without the PMC Wagner, if it really wished to.

"We are not going to [prepare] for any provocations. If we needed a provocation, I have thousands of soldiers in the west of the country. Just give them a command - they will organize any provocation. But we do not need it. Why should we need a provocation? What will it achieve? Well, we'll make some in Vilnius feel scared, and what? We'll get retaliation. So, there is no need for it," the BelTA news agency quotes Lukashenko as saying. In this way the Belarussian leader commented on reports that the PMC Wagner intended to organize some provocation from Belarus ahead of the NATO summit.

The summit of NATO member-states will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12.