MINSK, April 1. /TASS/. Following a comprehensive inspection of the Belarusian Armed Forces, the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko stated at a meeting to summarize the inspection results that the republic does not want war, but is getting ready for it, the BelTA news agency reported.
"We cannot speak of any real peacetime. We are preparing for war. That is why we created the Armed Forces, why we maintain them, why the people pay to support us. And everyone in this room (and not only here) must understand: we are absolutely against war. Especially our officers, our soldiers, our Armed Forces. Because we know what war is. We do not want war, but that is what an army exists for. If someone suddenly decides to talk to us while aiming a weapon at us, we will respond. That is what we are preparing for," the Belarusian head of state stated.
Addressing the meeting participants, Lukashenko proposed having a completely frank discussion of the inspection’s outcomes, without hiding anything. "Although it was a scheduled inspection, it was the first one of such scale in the history of independent Belarus," the president emphasized.
The head of state emphasized that there was only one task set: to see how units brought to full combat readiness would act under wartime conditions. "These inspections in peacetime are a waste of money. We do not have extra funds," the Belarusian leader noted.