OREANDA-NEWS. There is no legal basis for Russian military assistance to Belarus, and it should be regarded as an invasion, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius stated.

“There are no reasons for military support from Russia, and no legal or other grounds for it. It would constitute an invasion into the country and would destroy the last traces of its independence,” the politician said. He also noted that Moscow would take a big risk if it did it. “It should figure out that an invasion would not be justified, neither legally, nor morally, nor politically,” Linkevicius added.

On August 15, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that he had agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to provide assistance to Minsk “at the first request” in the event of external military threats. “…We have an agreement with the Russian Federation within the framework of the Union State and the Collective Security Treaty Organization,” he explained.

It is known, however, that so far, no requests for assistance from Belarus have been received by representatives of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.