MINSK, November 22. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has stated that he didn’t want a standoff on the Belarusian-Polish border which can be fraught with a military conflict.

"In this respect, it is necessary to get through to Poles, to each Pole, and show them that we are not barbarians, we don’t want a standoff, we don’t need it," he said on Monday when listening to a report by Governor of the Grodno Region Vladimir Karanik and Belarusian Presidential Aide in the Grodno region Yuri Karayev as quoted by the BelTA news agency. "Since we understand that if we go overboard here, a war is unavoidable. And this will be a catastrophe," he explained.

According to him, the Belarusian side "is not transporting anyone across the border intentionally." "Yet we will protect these poor people as much as possible," the head of state said.