April 17 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine believed Russia was making preparations that showed that it would once again try to involve its ally Belarus in the four-year-old war pitting Kyiv against Moscow.
Zelenskiy made his remarks, posted on the Telegram messaging app, in response to what he said was an intelligence report issued by Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“According to intelligence, road construction in areas leading to Ukraine and the establishment of artillery positions are going on in the Belarusian border area,” Zelenskiy wrote.
“We believe that Russia will once again try to involve Belarus in its war.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine had issued instructions to warn the Belarusian leadership of “Ukraine’s readiness to defend its land and independence”.
He also said intelligence showed that Russia was “attempting … to carry out a regrouping of forces – most likely to compensate for a shortage of personnel.”
“In this regard, it becomes more evident why the armed forces increased their activity on the territory of Belarus.” He did not provide further evidence.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowed his territory to be used for part of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has said he has no intention of committing troops to the war in Ukraine.
But Belarus, which borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, has since agreed to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons and Russia’s hypersonic Oreshnik missiles.
Lukashenko has long been subject to Western sanctions for his support of the war in Ukraine and allegations of human rights abuses.
But the United States has been seeking improved relations with Belarus and working to secure the release of detainees seen in the West as political prisoners, with 250 freed last month.
The U.S. said it had agreed to drop some sanctions, but made clear to the Belarusian leadership that it must not facilitate other forms of sanctions evasion or support for the war in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; editing by Edward Tobin)
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