Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has warned that the West’s continued military support to Ukraine could spark a “major war.”

"Unfortunately, this Western policy is bringing the world closer to the abyss of a major war where, as you know, there won’t be a winner anymore," Lukashenko said in an interview with Belarusian media, according to Russian state news outlet TASS. "Western countries, openly stage-managed by the United States, are dismantling the system of global security steadily, methodically and even against their own national interests and [their] populations’ wishes," he claimed.

“The ongoing developments represent decisive steps towards a multi-polar world order and the discontinuation of American hegemony bolstered by the military buildup, neo-Nazi ideology and openly fascist regimes around objectionable countries,” he said, referring to Moscow’s claim that the Ukrainian government is in large part driven by Nazi ideology. "Apparently, the freshly-minted ‘crusaders’ from the North Atlantic Alliance suddenly decided that this is the right time for yet another ‘eastward attack,’ forgetting how similar ventures ended for their historical predecessors,” Lukashenko warned

The Belarusian president reiterated his concerns, previously echoed by Belarus’ defense minister, Viktor Khrenin, that NATO has increased its reconnaissance flights and other military movements near Belarusian territory. “We understand perfectly well that all the flights, dozens of which happen daily, are intended to study the territory and train the pilots, who learn and watch. We cannot but be concerned about it,” Khrenin said in May. “God forbid if it becomes a theater of war in the future. We are very closely watching it and working out a set of measures to prevent transition of these tensions, which have evolved around our borders, to a hot phase,” he added.

Belarus, a close Russian military ally, aided Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine by providing passage and logistical support to Russian forces advancing southward in the direction of Kyiv from Belarusian territory. The Institute of War assessed earlier this week that, although Lukashenko seeks to signal “at least nominal support” to Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s invasion, Minsk is currently not planning to launch a direct military assault against Ukraine due to the destabilizing effects such a venture could have on Lukashenko’s rule. However, Belarus is likely to continue granting Russian forces access to its airspace and territory.

"Today, we are being criticized for being the only country in the world to support Russia in its fight against Nazism. We support and will continue to support Russia," Lukashenko said during a ceremony commemorating Minsk’s liberation from Nazi occupation during World War II. "And those who criticize us, do they not know that we have such a close union with the Russian Federation? … That we have practically a unified army. But you knew all this. We will remain together with fraternal Russia.

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters.