June 19 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that a week should be enough for Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to remove equipment from his country used by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine, adding a threat of Ukrainian action if Lukashenko did not do so.
Zelenskiy said signal relay stations were located in two Belarusian regions bordering Ukraine that were used by Russian forces to help with steering during attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Reuters could not verify his claims independently.
“What’s the point of saying he (Lukashenko) doesn’t want to be in the war? Let him remove this equipment, let him switch it off. I think a week will be enough for him to do that,” Zelenskiy told a news conference in Kyiv.
“If he doesn’t do it, we’ll do it,” he said, without elaborating.
Zelenskiy has in recent months repeatedly warned that Russia plans to draw Minsk more deeply into its war in Ukraine. Russian forces used Belarusian territory to launch attacks when they first invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Last month, Lukashenko dismissed any notion that Minsk would be dragged further into the war but said that, together with Russia, it would defend itself in the event of aggression.
In an interview this week with Al Arabiya television, he said Ukraine had nothing to fear from Belarus and that both sides had to compromise to end the war.
Russia accused Ukraine this week of a fatal drone attack on a bus carrying Belarusian children through Russia. Kyiv denied it was responsible. A woman accompanying the children was killed and eight people, including six children, were injured in the incident. Belarus’ Foreign Ministry said it had demanded “complete explanations” from Ukraine.
Minsk has remained Moscow’s staunchest supporter during the war. Russian drones have crossed Belarus while attacking Ukraine, and Minsk said it has deployed the Russian Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile system. The two countries also held nuclear drills in May.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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