MINSK, January 17. /TASS/. Ukraine is building up forces on the border with Belarus, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a conference devoted to the concept of a joint military exercise by Russia and Belarus.

"Ukraine keeps building up forces and concentrating national guard units manned by ‘nationalist radicals’. They are far worse than NATO military personnel. This is happening near our country’s state border," the BelTA news agency quotes Lukashenko as saying. He stressed that all this would be disguised as measures against migrants.

"But migrants don’t wish to get there even in their nightmare. They do not go there and have no intention to even try. Ukraine’s own people tend to flee their country," Lukashenko said adding that any speculations about protection from migrants from Belarus looked weird.

He pointed out that a special operation was underway on Ukraine’s border with Belarus, with up to 10,000 troops present in the area.

"The current trend indicates that the military contingent on our country’s southern borders is being built up," he stated.