Meeting with senior staff of national security agencies

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko convened a large meeting with the senior staff of the national security agencies in Minsk on 20 February.

"We are going to discuss the most pressing issues in the field of national security candidly and, most importantly, in a manly manner. We will also assess the real situation in Belarus and around it as objectively as possible," the head of state said as he opened the meeting.

The President stressed that the participants to the meeting, each at their own level, know the situation. "Let's look at the situation through the prism of existential threats. The threats that did not arise today or yesterday. You know that it is not enough to see them. It is important to understand the global political situation, to objectively assess the causes and prerequisites. Especially now, when the world has again come to the brink of the abyss," the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted the need to compare notes, to assess how prepared the country's law enforcement and security agencies are for possible provocations and unconventional situations during the upcoming political campaigns, taking into account the situation in the region and in the world. "We know our strong points but it is more important to see where we need to improve, where we need to step up in the light of the current realities. These are the issues that the key ministers will highlight in their reports. We must be as ready as possible to neutralize risks and threats," the Belarusian leader said.

“There is no country and nation who could feel absolutely safe for the last dozen years. Military force has once again become the main argument of the world centers for solving issues. As if there were no million losses and horrors of the First and Second World Wars. Now we are literally covered with an information wave of the so-called premonition of the third world war. There are grounds for concern,” the Belarusian leader said.

He drew attention to the growing trend in the number of hotspots. Last year alone, more than 25 military conflicts were launched or continued in different regions on different continents, and almost each one was used as an excuse to introduce a peacekeeping contingent. “You know what this is done for. To deploy people with weapons, to mark their zone of influence. That means the world is turning into a testing ground for global confrontation,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko continued: “You see what is happening in the Middle East. There are already open threats to use nuclear weapons. Entire cities are being wiped off the face of the earth along with their peaceful inhabitants. It turns out that it is possible to do so without getting under sanctions, without becoming an outcast in the eyes of the so-called civilized society, carriers of ‘true’ democratic values.”

The situation on the European continent, including near the borders of Belarus, is not calmer either. About 32,000 troops of the joint NATO and U.S. armed forces are deployed in the immediate vicinity of Belarus and Russia as part of the Alliance's operations in Europe. This is more than 1,000 units of armored vehicles, about 160 artillery systems and mortars, 235 planes and helicopters. “All this at least is a demonstration of force,” the President said.

"In fact, we are in the epicenter of the protracted major military-political crisis. They use the methods of intimidation as old as the world. The forecasts are disappointing. The appetites and activity of the collective West will be only growing. Washington and its allies will continue to expand NATO. The situation is very favorable for them. To put it bluntly, without too much diplomacy, almost all European leaders have become U.S. subjects. There is no doubt about whose policy and whose interests dominate the European Union," the President said.

"The accession of Finland and the imminent accession Sweden to NATO is the next wave of expansion to the east. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Georgia, and Serbia will be drawn into the alliance. All this will done according to Ukraine's scenario," Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

The President recalled the results of the “partnership politics" games with Ukrainian leaders. "They ended with the formation of a layer of agents of change for the subsequent change of the military-political focus to the pro-Western one. This ended with the war. Now they are playing the same game with Ukraine. The vague NATO membership prospect is successfully used by Western curators to motivate and push the Kiev authorities to continue the hostilities."

They want to drag Belarus into this war by hook or by crook, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.

" We have some classified information on our hands. We know exactly what the chief of the General Staff of a major NATO member state thinks about this: ‘We failed to drag Belarus in the conflict. Minsk's active participation in the war would have undermined the regime in Belarus and hurt A. Lukashenko. This opportunity is still open," the President said.

"The Poles are happy: ‘The war in Ukraine is an opportunity to change the regime in Belarus.' A chance for our self-exiled opposition. This is a quote," the Belarusian leader said.

According to him, behind these word games there is a desire to finally satisfy their long-standing territorial ambitions: "I have already spoken about this, but I will repeat it again. Europe believes that (literally) "the war will end in territorial changes. Poland has legal rights to a part of modern Belarus. In turn the democratic Belarus will receive a part of the territory of the defeated Russia as compensation." That's the whole strategy. Behind-closed-doors meeting of the "hawks". This is their strategy - to inflict an ultimate defeat on Belarus and Russia, and to grab the territories and so on. You understand that this will lead to a bloodbath on these lands.”

“Thus, the prerequisites for a new redivision of the European continent are being shaped. Our self-exiled opposition dreams of joining this process. Territorial redistribution was part of the talks held with our self-exiled opposition. [Representatives of the West] held talks with them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“The beneficiaries of the war have no interest in stopping the slaughter inside a nation alien to them. The stakes are too high, and the profits are fabulous. The price of one NATO 155-millimeter artillery shell, for example, has increased 4 times since the beginning of the war in Ukraine - from €2,000 to €8,000. No comment, as they say. I would like to characterize the current phase of the civilizational confrontation between East and West as follows: the masks have been completely dropped,” the head of state said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, if Washington used to at least come up with a valid pretext to satisfy its geopolitical ambitions (everyone remembers the test tube), used soft and smart force, inspired color revolutions, hybrid and proxy wars, today it is moving to open aggression and physical destruction of the undesirable without any information preludes.

“Now we are given the thesis that the multipolar world is a world of uncontrolled growth of agents of chaos, that we need one global policeman (this is how the mainstream media in the West write, shaping public opinion). This is a lie. The so-called uncontrolled growth was instigated and is still trying to be controlled by Washington. This is their agony,” the President said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced that only a multipolar world is able to establish balance and ensure security on all continents. “The transition to it is very stressful and dramatic. It cannot be otherwise,” the President said.

At the meeting the President stressed that Belarus does not want war, but it must be prepared for it both mentally and strategically.

“What is the rationale for Western European politicians to enlarge various coalitions and military and political alliances? Why would they go for these absolutely absurd illegal sanctions, large-scale military build-up, muscle flexing, including military activity near our borders? Why would they do this? Who is threatening them? Have we ever threatened anyone at any point in our history? All the bloodiest military campaigns came from west towards east and were pushed back, embarrassed or ashamed. Unfortunately, millions of people died in the process. And the reasons for it, both then and now, were far-fetched: either our faith was wrong, or our political system did not meet some standards, or someone’s rights were violated...” the Belarusian leader noted.

“We are aware of the real reasons for the interest in our lands. But this is not the point. We don’t need war, and we must be prepared for it both mentally and strategically. We need to acknowledge how serious the situation is. Let’s drop all illusions about the possibility of a diplomatic settlement of the global conflict. International law is also unable to relieve tensions,” the head of state emphasized.

According to him, the principles used by the collective West are simple to the point of disgrace: those who are not with them will be forced to toe the line: “They will not necessarily invent some pretext to do this. International organizations have completely lost their authority. Some of them are openly used as a bully pulpit to serve the interests of specific countries. And Belarus is not one of them.”

“Therefore, there are attempts to launch new regional initiatives abroad that will be controlled by the United States and the European Union,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko. “The plan is incredibly primitive. They should include ‘neutral’ Ukraine and Belarus in addition to Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. In line with this plan, Belarus will be ‘cut off’ from Russia. Of course, Minsk is viewed as a satellite of Poland. Does this remind you of anything?” Aleksandr Lukashenko asked.

“Today it is extremely important not only to realistically assess the situation and understand what is happening, but also to act promptly. And we must take preventive measures. We all, first of all people in uniform, simply must be prepared to repel any threats. Mistakes are unacceptable,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

Addressing the attendees, the President said: “You know how we should interpret the name of the upcoming exercise of NATO and the U.S. armed forces, Steadfast Defender 2024. You know what the holding of this exercise on the territory of the Baltic countries, Germany and Poland means for us.”

“According to the data received, about 90,000 military personnel from 32 member states and partners of the alliance will stand on the doorstep of our country, practicing the strategy (quote) “to repel Russian aggression against one of its members,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked. “We are aware of how they are going to repel aggression. The intelligence services are keeping their finger on the pulse.”

"Everyone, both here and there, needs to understand the real situation and our awareness. This is important. Especially now, on the eve of all sorts of political events in our country. The country is currently gearing up for the most important events: the single voting day, the formation of the Belarusian People’s Congress. They will try to rock our boat again. It's obvious. The scheme will not change. They will come up with new triggers to destabilize the society and we must be prepared for that," the Belarusian leader said.

"All the fake and unimportant information aside, Belarusian self-exiled opposition and their handlers from the foreign special services are working on three main scenarios of action during this period," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

"This is not a story concocted by Lukashenko or our special services. This is the information obtained by our intelligence. These guys should be held in great esteem. I always say it to Ivan Stanislavovich [KGB head Ivan Tertel]. They are of the greatest value for us. They should be provided with all necessary support. So should those who spent two weeks on the border to detain those saboteurs from Ukraine,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

“We have talked about it with you and [Internal Affairs Minister] Ivan Kubrakov many times. All those who work for the benefit of the state should be appreciated and supported,” the President added.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, many military and law enforcement officers keep performing their duties as usual. “These officers however are at war today. They, including intelligence agents, should be supported in every possible way,” he stressed.

"The first scenario is the most desirable for them. This is the organization of a coup d'état or a violent seizure of power directly during the election campaign. Yet, they assess it as unlikely. They do not yet see any real prerequisites for destabilizing the situation by analogy with 2020," the head of state said.

“The second one is the main one. They will use the current election campaign as a rehearsal and initial stage to prepare for a coup d'état during the upcoming Presidential election in 2025,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “All the main forces and resources will be used to fuel social discontent and provoke a new wave of protest.”

“As I said earlier, we are being watched very closely. They are waiting for the authorities to make a mistake in order to use it for their advantage. This cannot be allowed,” the President emphasized.

“The third scenario is a reserve one, a so-called long game with extensive use of soft power instruments in case the first two scenarios fail. In fact, this game has been on as long as sovereign Belarus has existed,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state believes that this scenario is most feasible, because Belarus will simply not allow the first two ones.

"Today some instruments of this soft power have been neutralized. We have drastically revised our approaches to the anti-Belarusian foundations and alleged human rights organizations inside Belarus. The parties were re-registered. People have seen the anti-national nature of the so-called opposition leaders who are begging for favors in Western capitals," Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “They have been outlawed in Belarus. But they are trying and will continue to try to influence emotionally vulnerable people through social media and messengers, to develop new channels of communication and control over the masses. They learn from their mistakes. We should not have the illusion of absolute victory."

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the success of the anti-Belarusian campaign is a matter of survival for the self-exiled opposition: "They have sold out their homeland, are running out of money. Life in Europe is expensive. Therefore, they will go to any length."

As for global players in the political arena, the stakes are even higher. "It's not even about the millions they wasted on failed riots. They will print more. We are talking about reputational losses at the level of international politics. The hegemon is tired of suffering defeats in Belarus, which not even every American will find on the world map," the President said.

At the meeting the President warned that Polish and American intelligence are preparing a provocation in Poland.

"We publicize, as best as we can, all the information obtained by our intelligence about various kinds of provocations, extremist actions with the involvement of militants from Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania. Now we will continue this tradition. Here’s one more piece of operational information. I quote verbatim (this is important for the Poles): "Polish and U.S. intelligence are preparing a large-scale provocation against the Polish civilian population, which they will blame on Russia and Belarus," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

"Simultaneously Warsaw is trying to recruit high-ranking Belarusian officials to replace the current Belarusian opposition figures," the President said. “They will look for and nurture new figures, loyal to the West and more effective. They will use all methods: from garden-variety bribery and blackmail to threats to the life and health of these people and their loved ones. Anyone can get on their radar."