Zelensky warns Belarus to remove equipment used in Russian attacks or Ukraine will do it
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that a week should be enough for Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to remove equipment from his country used by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine, adding a threat of Ukrainian action if Lukashenko did not do so.
Zelensky said signal relay stations were located in two Belarusian regions bordering Ukraine that were used by Russian forces to help with steering during attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Reuters could not verify his claims independently.
“What’s the point of saying he [Lukashenko] doesn’t want to be in the war? Let him remove this equipment, let him switch it off. I think a week will be enough for him to do that,” Zelensky told a news conference in Kyiv.
“If he doesn’t do it, we’ll do it,” he said, without elaborating.
Zelensky has in recent months repeatedly warned that Russia plans to draw Minsk more deeply into its war in Ukraine. Russian forces used Belarusian territory to launch attacks when they first invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Last month, Lukashenko dismissed any notion that Minsk would be dragged further into the war but said that, together with Russia, it would defend itself in the event of aggression.