Lukashenko orders to withdraw troops from Belarus' southern border

It is time to withdraw troops from the southern border to places of their permanent deployment, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the meeting to discuss the country's military security in the southern operational district on 13 July, BelTA has learned.

Belarus had to respond to the recent escalation at the border with Ukraine by beefing up border security and reinforcing border guards with army units. After that Ukraine withdrew its troops from the border area and the tensions subsided.

“There should not be any unnecessary moves,” the head of state said.

“I want people to know (I absolutely trust our intelligence): the situation has been stabilized at the Belarus-Ukraine border. Their troops have been removed. Therefore, guys, our troops need to be pulled back from the border, too. It will send them a signal (as we have agreed) that we are not going to fight and we are not going to increase military presence here, except for special operations forces,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko gave instructions to Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces Vadim Denisenko: “Take care of your guys. Make sure they (special operations forces) stay at the designated areas on a rotational basis. Make things more comfortable for them given such a heat wave. We need several people at these designated facilities on a rotational basis. Take the rest to places of permanent deployment.”

The president ordered to have a look at the Defense Ministry as a whole. “If you need to withdraw troops from somewhere, go ahead. There should not be any unnecessary moves,” he said.

However, Aleksandr Lukashenko warned everyone against missing possible threats from the West. “Since I warned you about it, we have seen that we should be watchful for the West. There is a build-up going on there. Therefore, the guys deployed in the northwestern district should be ready for everything. There are attempts to provoke us in order to drag us into this conflict, this war,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.