DISINFO: The West wants to drag Belarus into the war
SUMMARY
Russia is an ally of Belarus, the countries have a joint military grouping. Russia never asked Belarus to start a war against Ukraine.
Intelligence data suggests that the West wants to draw Belarus into the war and literally dreams about it. Taking into account the length of the borders of Belarus, this would allow to further stretch the front by 2.5 thousand km, which would complicate the situation for the troops of Belarus and Russia.
RESPONSE
This message is a part of the Kremlin’s widespread disinformation narrative about the aggressive West.
The claim is false. The West is not interested in an escalation of the war. No neighbouring countries are preparing to attack Belarus. Poland and the Baltic States adhere to international law regarding state borders and have no territorial claims upon Belarus or others. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated its neighbour's (Ukraine’s) territorial integrity.
With the ongoing Russian aggressive war against Ukraine, European countries are forced to strengthen their borders, increase the defense capability of their armies, in order to resist any external aggression.
The Ukrainian state is under attack by Russia, while the US and Western countries are providing support to Ukraine. Western nations did everything they could to prevent the war and have only been reacting to Russia’s full invasion to help Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s aggression, in accordance with UN Charter Article 51.
Belarus itself is an accomplice in aggression in this war. Belarus has served as a staging post for Russian troops, missiles and aircraft, both before and after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
On 2 March 2022, the Council of the EU imposed further sanctions on Belarus for its role in the Russian military aggression of Ukraine. The UK and the U.S. Treasury have also imposed similar measures.