Mr Lukashenko insisted Belarus has no intention of joining the Russian war against Ukraine – unless provoked.
In a chilling warning to Kyiv and the rest of the world, the Belarusian president told state news agency Belta: “If you Ukrainians do not cross our border, we will never participate in this war. In this hot war. But we will always help Russia – they are our allies.”
The Belarusian leader, often described in Western media as Europe’s last dictator, added: “There can be only one threat – aggression against our country.
“If aggression against our country starts from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, we will respond instantly with everything we have.”
The remarks are even more concerning when considering Putin claimed in June to have delivered nuclear warheads to Belarus as a deterrent.
Mr Lukashenko added: “To involve Belarus… what will that give? Nothing.”
In the recent interview published on Thursday, Mr Lukasheko also pushed Moscow’s justification for the war, claiming Kyiv was behaving “aggressively” towards the country of Vladimir Putin prior to the invasion.
He said: “Ukraine will never behave so aggressively towards Russia after the end of this war, as it did before the war.”
Since the invasion began, the Kremlin justified its “special military operation” saying the Russian Army aimed to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine.
Mr Lukashenko also said during his interview Russia and Ukraine should sit at the negotiating table to discuss all issues, including the future of Ukrainian territories occupied and annexed by Moscow.
The Belarusian president has been a key ally of Putin over the past years, and he facilitated the invasion of Ukraine by allowing some of Moscow’s troops to use his country as a launch pad.
In June, he was pivotal during the attempted coup led by Wagner Group, as he brokered a deal which led the paramilitary forces’ leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to order a U-turn to his troops marching towards Moscow.
Since the mutiny against the Russian defence leadership, Mr Prigozhin and his men have relocated to Belarus, where they are reportedly training the Belarusian army.
In a meeting with Putin in July, Mr Lukashenko sent shockwaves through NATO members as he said Wagner men wanted to conduct military incursions within the Polish territory.
Two Belarusian helicopters were also spotted crossing the Poland border, Warsaw said in early August, prompting the deployment of 10,000 Polish soldiers.
