Belarussian Security Council Explained Border Strengthening with Ukraine

The Republic of Belarus will continue to strengthen the state border with Ukraine in order to prevent the illegal import of weapons into its territory, announced State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Stanislav Zas on September 4. He explained that Minsk does not close checkpoints with Ukraine, but improves them. “We are building a tough barrier for those who come with other goals, unlawful ones. To do this, the border is strengthened, which is located outside the checkpoints,” said Zas. According to him, this situation is not extraordinary; Minsk just takes into account the risks that come from the neighboring territory, as well as thousands of weapons that are freely available in Ukraine. “First of all this weapon is available somewhere. Secondly, we also have people who would like to use these weapons and get them. We must firmly suppress such aspirations,” he emphasized. On September 3, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko explained that his country had closed the border with Ukraine due to the flow of illegal weapons, and if weapons “are available for the ordinary people and especially nationalist-minded people, then the terrorism is around.” Izvestia