Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has ordered the country's forces to high alert after Ukraine massed troops at the border.
Lukashenko stated that due to the increased activity of Ukrainian military forces near the Belarusian border, the Belarusian and Russian Air Force and Air Defense Forces have been put on high combat readiness.
Polonez and Iskander long-range missile systems have also been deployed to their positions.
"The Air Force and Air Defense Forces are in high combat readiness. Both ours and Russia's. There is complete cooperation here," Lukashenko said on Tuesday during a ceremonial meeting in Minsk in honor of Belarus Independence Day. "The Polonez and Iskander missile systems are deployed in position. You also know what kind of ammunition they have."
"Border guards have been switched to enhanced state border protection," Lukashenko said. "Special operations forces have been deployed."
"Not only border guards but also our military today have blocked the potential enemy's movement directions," the president noted. He stressed that Belarusian security forces have previously conducted similar exercises, and now this experience was in demand.
Lukashenko stressed that there are no "red lines" — in the event of aggression, there would be "strikes with all types of weapons on designated targets."
"We have thought about everything... we have blocked both the southern border [with Ukraine] and the western border [with the EU countries], so that God forbid they are no mistakes, as it has already happened in our history," the Belarusian president said.
Lukashenko highlighted that Belarus will not allow any clashes on its border with Ukraine, and Kiev does not need them either.
"I guarantee that we will not allow any clashes on the border with Ukraine. There will be none, we do not need them," he said. "But Ukraine does not need them even more due to the events that are happening on their battlefield — it is getting worse and worse for Ukraine there."
At the same time, Lukashenko said that he would not instruct border guards to protect the border with Poland from illegal migrants.
"We're not going to catch them [migrants] here. Our business is to ensure the security of our people. I do not intend to order border guards, military and civilians to protect the European Union on the border between Belarus and Poland," Lukashenko said in his speech.
The president noted that the European Union has imposed sanctions on Belarus and is now trying to force Minsk to protect them from immigrants.