Belarus President: Our forces are not participating in the Russian operation in Ukraine

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stressed troops from his country did not participate in the military operation launched by Russia on Thursday against Ukraine.

"Our forces are not participating in this operation," the official Belta news agency quoted him as saying.

Information received from Minsk indicates that Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone conversations with Lukashenko in the early hours of this morning.

Russia and its ally Belarus recently conducted large-scale exercises in Belarus, including in Belarus on the border with Ukraine.

There were fears, especially in the West, that Russia might plan to invade Ukraine from Belarus, which Moscow has always denied.

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