M. Zakharova: “If Kyiv attacks Belarus, the consequences will be catastrophic”

Russia today warned Ukraine and the West of “catastrophic consequences” if Kyiv takes action against Belarus.

She even made it clear that she would intervene to protect a country in which she regularly deploys nuclear weapons. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow was concerned about what she called increasingly “provocative” activity on the border with Belarus, noting that she did not rule out attempts at escalation in the region.

Days after Ukraine's surprise cross-border attack on Russia's Kursk region on August 6, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said without giving details that Kyiv might consider attacking Belarus. Minsk, which accused Ukrainian drones of violating its airspace, later said it was sending additional troops to the border with Ukraine, although Kyiv said it had not detected any major changes in the border region.

“We are taking due account of the information we have received about the intensification of actions by Ukrainian troops in the border zone,” Zakharova noted. We ourselves see these events and know about the constant attempts of the Ukrainian side to use drones and send terrorists into the territory of the republic.”

Last month, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the country “has never undertaken and will never undertake any hostile actions against the Belarusian people.”

In an apparent reference to the Ukrainian attack in Kursk, Zakharova noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had shown himself capable of what she called “reckless steps” accusing him of coordinating with Washington ahead of the US presidential election in November.Therefore, based on this logic, we do not rule out that these destructive forces may come into motion and aggravate the situation in the region.“, – emphasized the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Zakharova also stressed that Russia and Belarus are part of “Union State” and pledged to jointly defend their common borders, noting that a joint regional military group, as well as Russian tactical nuclear weapons, have been deployed in Belarus.The practical implementation of any scenarios aggressive towards Minsk will have catastrophic consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for its sponsors,” she concluded.

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