Will not hesitate: Belarus President on bringing Russian troops if needed

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has warned on Friday that he would not hesitate to invite Russian troops if the need arises, although he said there was no need for them now.

“There is no need for that now. We have quite a strong, united, and compact armed force. If it is not enough, Russian armed forces will be introduced. If it is necessary, we will not hesitate,” Reuters quoted Lukashenko as saying.

Russia has maintained close military and economic ties with its ally Belarus, even as Western countries have ostracised the country since Lukashenko cracked down on mass protests following a contested presidential election last year.

Lukashenko said Belarus had coped with the unrest without any external forces and could muster around 500,000 personnel in a short period of time.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that Belarus had made no request for troops, and that Minsk would need to submit a formal request before any could be deployed, Reuters reported.

Since the disputed election which Lukashenko claims to have won by a landslide, the country’s law enforcement agencies have arrested thousands of protesters who took to the streets against the regime. Various reports from rights groups suggest that hundreds were abused or tortured in detention, an allegation denied by Belarus. Nearly all major opposition figures are now imprisoned or in exile.

Earlier this month, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya  had asked the
United States for tighter sanctions on businesses in her country in hopes of
forcing them away from Lukashenko in hopes of driving him out of power.