"The Belarusian people endured tremendous hardship during the years of Nazi occupation and, at the genetic level, reject war. We are a peaceful people. We do not want to fight, but we also have no intention of bowing to an enemy," Alexander Lukashenko said during a ceremony honoring graduates of military academies and senior officers, according to the state-run BelTA news agency.
At the same time, Lukashenko claimed that an international "party of war" is doing everything possible to prolong the fighting in Ukraine.
"While hypocritically declaring its commitment to peace, the European Union has openly embarked on a course of militarization — effectively becoming NATO. Billions are being spent on offensive weapons while an absurd hysteria is being fueled over an imagined 'threat from the East,'" he said.
Lukashenko also told Belarusian servicemen that no one would "send them into a slaughterhouse." He added that Belarus does not need war and that "it is bad that there is a war in Ukraine."
On June 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had given Lukashenko seven days to dismantle transmitters in Belarus that Russia allegedly uses to guide drones toward Ukraine.
"If he doesn't do it, we will," Zelenskyy said at the time.
On June 24, Zelenskyy said the transmitters had stopped operating on June 22, adding that it was still unclear whether the Lukashenko government had actually dismantled the equipment.
On June 25, following a briefing from Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, Zelenskyy said Belarus was completing road infrastructure and facilities for storing ammunition and fuel along its border with Ukraine.
"Belarus knows what steps it must take to achieve peace. The development of infrastructure supporting aggression from Belarus must be stopped," Zelenskyy said.
On June 26, Lukashenko traveled to Russia for a closed-door meeting with Vladimir Putin at his residence in Valdai. The meeting lasted about five hours.
On June 29, Lukashenko met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.