MINSK, September 9. /TASS/. Belarus will go to war in case of the Western countries’ aggression against Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russian media in an interview aired on Wednesday.

"Should someone try to carry out an act of aggression against Russia through Belarus or near Belarus, our 60,000-65,000-strong army will go to war, because the West is our zone of responsibility in accordance with the Collective Security Treaty and the Union State treaty," Lukashenko said. "And the Russian group, which supports us, is to join us to repel an aggression from the West under the plan. It is our zone of responsibility."

"If something like that happens in the Western direction, north or south of us, we will hurry to defend Russia," he added.

Lukashenko in August instructed the Defense Ministry to closely monitor the movement of NATO forces in Poland and Lithuania and also to alert troops on the Western border amid soaring tensions in this region. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin on August 19 issued orders to reinforce the Grodno group with tactical missile and multiple rocket launcher battalions and also an UAV unit and air defense forces.