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VLADIMIR Putin’s pal has warned of nuclear war as he deploys more troops along his border with Ukraine.
Victor Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus, now has a third of his forces stationed along the heavily mined southern frontier.
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In a new interview the tyrant has sent a clear threat to NATO as Ukraine continues to seize land in its surprise invasion of Kursk.
The dictator said if the Western alliance sent troops to support Ukraine it would begin WW3, the Belarusian state news agency quoted him as saying.
He said: “Ukraine will not be able to defeat Russia. Then who? The West. NATO. We must see this.
“If they send NATO troops [to Ukraine], this will start WW3.”
Lukashenko threatened that Russia would respond to the move in the apocalyptic way.
He said: “Both tactical and strategic nuclear weapons will be used, and the response will be instant and terrible.
“They [NATO] also understand this, and we understand it. Therefore, we need to sit down at the negotiating table.”
The rambling conspiratorial leader also bizarrely claimed NATO wanted to push Russia into using a nuke as it would totally isolate Putin.
“I know for a fact that in Ukraine they would be very happy if Russia used, or we would use, tactical nuclear weapons.
“Then we would probably have hardly any allies left.”
Lukashenko also said it was NATO’s “dream” to attack Belarus from Poland as he claimed the alliance seeks to grow its borders.
“And in this case…it would be almost impossible to defend ourselves in such a situation.
“This [would mean] mobilisation and a real war…..”
Lukashenko now claims to have sent a third of his 60,000-strong armed forces to the border with Ukraine.
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ReutersBut, the 69-year-old also claimed that Ukraine has now built up a force of 120,000 on the other side of the fence.
Lukashenko said of the troop build up in April: “From Vitebsk we’ve transferred a couple of battalions and are [now] standing head to head with NATO.
“These battalions are at full operational readiness, with a readiness of three hours from leaving their place of deployment.
“Three hours and we’re there.”
In the new interview, Lukashenko also continued to wind down his support for Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
He has now contradicted Putin’s claims about Nazis being in Ukraine – an important but bogus justification the Russian gave for the war.
Lukashenko said: “There are no Nazis there anymore.
“Ukraine has been de-Nazified.
“But there are a few rabid Nazis who remain there, but they are no longer fashionable.”
Speaking to Russian state television a few days ago, Lukashenko also said it was America who wanted to keep the fighting going.
He pleaded with Vlad: “Let’s sit down at the negotiating table and end this brawl.
“The Americans have one policy – to pit Europe against Russia. Let them fight. And then they will sort things out in the East with the Chinese.”
Then both tactical and strategic nuclear weapons will be used, and the response will be instant and terrible
LukashenkoPart of Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine was launched from Belarus, with Lukashenko long regurgitating Moscow’s anti-west war propaganda.
He has previously called on Kyiv to surrender for a ceasefire, saying Russia would be forced to use “the most terrible weapon” if it felt threatened.
Hi comments come as Putin appears to be scrambling to defence Ukraine’s attack on Kursk.
Putin is reportedly set to purge his top military command as his forces struggle to deal with the Ukrainian blitz.
Kremlin army chiefs are said to be in the firing line for their failure to stave off Kyiv’s rampaging forces in Kursk.
Sources say Vlad is seething at Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who was strangely missing from Moscow‘s crunch Security Council meeting last Friday.
Gerasimov, 68, has been accused of knowing that Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk was imminent – but decided not to tell Russian hierarchy.
Ukraine invaded Russia on August 6 and has since captured dozens of towns and capturing 1,150 square kilometres of territory.
Troops have reached 35km (21 miles) inside Russia after the surprise breakthrough and continue to push forward.
Putin has been humiliated by the invasion, which captured the same amount of land in eight days as Russia had in eight months.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun the Russian despot needs to act “very quickly” to maintain his iron-grip on power.
He said: “If he doesn’t, there’ll be lots of his gangster chums who’ll quite happily slip something in his tea and take over.
“Putin is on thin ice and the temperature is getting hotter.”
Inside Ukraine's invasion of Russia
Why has the Ukrainian invasion of Russia been so successful?
A DARING Ukrainian military push into Russia’s Kursk region has become the largest attack on the country since World War Two.
Kyiv’s forces have seized scores of villages, taken hundreds of prisoners and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians.
After more than a week of fighting, Russian troops are still struggling to drive out the invaders.
Why has Russian military been caught so unprepared?
- A long undefended border
Russia’s regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod share a 720-mile border with Ukraine – including a 152-mile section in the Kursk region.
And it only had symbolic protection before Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
It’s been reinforced since then with checkpoints on key roads and field fortifications in places – but not enough to repel a Ukrainian assault.
The most capable Russian units are fighting in eastern Ukraine, leaving the border vulnerable to attack.
- Element of surprise
Ukrainian troops participating in the incursion were reportedly only told about their mission a day before it began.
The secrecy contrasted with last year’s counteroffensive – when Ukraine openly declared its goal of cutting the land corridor to annexed Crimea.
Ukraine ended up failing as troops trudged through Russian minefields and were pummelled by artillery and drones.
But in Kursk, Ukrainian troops didn’t face any of these obstacles.
Battle-hardened units easily overwhelmed Russian border guards and small infantry units made up of inexperienced conscripts.
The Ukrainians drove deep into the region in several directions – facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic.
- Russia’s slow response
The Russian military command initially relied on warplanes and choppers to try to stop the onslaught.
At least one Russian helicopter gunship was shot down and another was damaged.
Moscow began pulling in reinforcements, managing to slow Ukraine’s advances – but failed to completely block troops.
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