West Plans to Attack Russia, Putin Ally Lukashenko Says

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko claimed on Tuesday that the West is planning to attack Russia amid the country's invasion of Ukraine.

During a ceremony honoring military graduates and senior officers, Lukashenko said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin "discussed this in detail" on Monday, when the Kremlin said the pair met to talk about the strengthening of Russian-Belarusian relations, among other issues.

"Strategic plans for an attack against Russia are being developed," the Putin ally said, Belarusian news outlet BelTA reported. "And the main direction of the strike—history repeats itself—is through Ukraine and through Belarus."

Lukashenko didn't elaborate on his claims. Western nations have not said that they are preparing to attack Russia amid Putin's attack on neighboring Ukraine.

A day earlier, a report from the Russian state-owned media outlet TASS said Putin and Lukashenko are coordinating a possible joint response against Lithuania.

The Kremlin said in a statement that the two leaders held talks on how the two countries could respond to Lithuania after it imposed European Union sanctions on materials heading to Russia's Kaliningrad territory on the Baltic Sea coast.

"Emphasis was placed on the situation relating to the illegal restrictions imposed by Lithuania on the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad Region. In this context, some possible joint steps were discussed," the Kremlin said.

Lukashenko has allowed Moscow to station its troops in Belarus and conduct large-scale military drills in the country.

The Russian president told a bilateral forum in the Belarusian city of Grodno on July 1 that the Western response to his war in Ukraine is pushing Russia and Belarus towards unification.

"Unprecedented political and sanctions pressure from the collective West is pushing Russia and Belarus to speed up the unification process," Putin said, adding: "After all, it is easier to minimize the damage from illegal sanctions, it is easier to master the production of demanded products, develop new competencies and expand cooperation with friendly countries."

Belarus and Russia signed a treaty in 1997 that sought to mend relations that disintegrated following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The neighboring countries reaffirmed their commitment to boost state cooperation amid Western sanctions, days after Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Belarusians not to allow Putin to drag their country into his war.

You are being drawn into the war. The Kremlin has already decided everything for you," Zelensky said during a video address on June 26. "But you are not slaves and cannon fodder. You don't have to die."

"Your lives are worthless to them," he added. "And you cannot let anyone decide what awaits you next."

Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus for comment.