Putin's Key Ally Inspects Tank Battalion Next to NATO Border

Vladimir Putin's closest ally, Alexander Lukashenko, has threatened military action if Belarus' border is breached in his latest swipe at NATO which is conducting exercises in the region.

Lukashenko, the only post-Soviet president Belarus has known, made the comments during an inspection of his forces in the Oshmyany (Ashmyany) district in the Hrodno region, 20 miles from frontier of alliance member Lithuania.

"I will say publicly, any provocation must be suppressed by armed means," Lukashenko said on Tuesday, according to Belarusian state news agency Belta. "If you violate the state border, you will be destroyed. No one should stand on ceremony."

"Any violation of the state border is subject to destruction. They only understand power," he added.

The Belta news agency noted in its report the extent of the alliance's Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises which started in January and end on May 31.

Belta reported how infantry and mechanized battalions of Germany and the U.S. had gathered at the Pabrade training ground in Lithuania, around nine miles from the Belarusian border.

These could be used to "carry out provocative actions...involving sabotage and reconnaissance groups and illegal armed groups," Belta said.

"We should not relax," Lukashenko said. "We are sure that if we do, they will attack us."

Newsweek has contacted the Lithuanian government and NATO for comment.

In a Substack post on Monday, military analyst Konrad Muzyka, from Rochan Consulting, said elements of a Belarusian mechanized brigade are positioned near the Lithuanian border area as part of combat readiness inspection.

Muzyka noted that the deployed Belarusian forces "lacked the capabilities to pose a serious military threat to NATO members."

However, Minsk's rhetoric against NATO is becoming increasingly belligerent, with Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin saying in February that its military would shoot down any aircraft that came into its airspace.

Also, Lukashenko claimed, without providing evidence, last month that Polish-American intelligence was preparing "a large-scale provocation against Polish civilians, which will be blamed on Russia and Belarus."

The Polish foreign ministry told Newsweek in a statement in February that Minsk is "one of the main destabilizing factors of the security situation in the region" and it is "only Minsk's actions that have been the source of all tensions."

Lukashenko relies on Putin to retain his grip on power, particularly after disputed Belarusian elections in 2020 that were followed by a brutal crackdown.

So far avoiding direct Belarusian involvement in the war, Lukashenko has allowed his country to be used as a staging post for Russian attacks into Ukraine and Lukashenko has also touted Russian-controlled nuclear weapons being placed in Belarus.

Meanwhile, closer economic ties sealed between the countries in January have raised speculation over whether Minsk might be forced to play a bigger role in the war in Ukraine, despite its unpopularity in Belarus.