MINSK, November 8. /TASS/. Belarus should do its utmost to avoid making any mistakes in settling the migration crisis on the border, because otherwise Russia would be involved in the affair, too, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.
"We are not challenging anyone, because we know that should we make some mistake, God forbid, should we stumble, Russia would get into this whirlpool, too," Lukashenko said in an interview to the editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine National Defense, Igor Korotchenko. The Belarusian news agency BelTA has quoted an extract from this interview.
Lukashenko recalled that Russia was a major nuclear power.
"I am not insane. I know perfectly well what this can bring about… We are well aware and we know our place. But they won’t see us on our knees," Lukashenko said.
He stressed that taking up arms in the modern world would be "suicidal."
"Still more so here, in the heart of Europe. Still more so in relation to Belarus. Many wars unfolded on this strip of land, in the very center of Europe. That’s where it all began. Haven’t the lessons of history been learned?" he asked.
He pointed out that using Leopard tanks against migrants would be impermissible.
"I beg your pardon, you and me are military people. We know well enough what it is like to fight a war against these poor people on the border with Poland, or with Belarus, and to move armor convoys against them. Clearly, this is some sort of exercise. Or blackmail," Lukashenko said.
The migration crisis on the Belarusian borders with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where migrants began to flock in since the beginning of this year, went into high gear on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border on the Belarusian side and tried to cross into Poland. In an attempt to storm the border they broke a barbed wire fence. The EU countries have blamed Minsk for the intentional escalation of the crisis and called for more sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that in this situation the responsibility rested squarely on the Western countries, whose policies had forced people to flee from war.