MINSK, May 18. /TASS/. The West escalates tensions and openly admits that it is preparing for war, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said this at a CSTO meeting.

"Despite the rapid decline in living standards and deteriorating economic prospects in the European countries, the West is escalating international tensions and politicians openly admit that they are preparing for war," the BelTA news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying, "Ukraine remains a central arena of confrontation, the battlefield on our continent."

The Belarusian president was speaking at a meeting of the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.