“We had to close the border tightly with our brothers and relatives, even more so than with the North Atlantic bloc, which for us always, from ancient times, supposedly seemed to be the number one enemy,” RIA Novosti quoted Lukashenko as saying.

He noted that if weapons fall into the hands of "ordinary people and especially nationalist-minded people, wait for terrorism."

In October 2018, Lukashenko said that in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, the “influx” of weapons on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border increased.

“Especially in terms of what bothers us: the influx of weapons across the Ukrainian border. We are seizing a lot of weapons, ”he said.

Later, Lukashenko set the State Border Committee the task of increasing the number of border guards in the country.