Lukashenko says he joked when claiming that Wagner mercenaries want to attack Poland
The self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenka, said he was joking when he said that Wagner mercenaries wanted to attack Poland.
"I joked that the Wagner fighters were talking that they would go on a trip to Rzeszow. Why? Because the equipment and weapons went from Rzeszow to where these "Wagner soldiers" fought near Artemovsk (Bakhmut). Thousands of their guys died there. And they will remember this," he said.
Lukashenko said that the Polish authorities still have to thank the Belarusians and him for "hosting these fighters."
"And this is not one thousand. I don't even want to give the number. In total, today they have more than 30 thousand people under their command. These are very sensitive guys set for war. A lot of crippled, dead. Will they forgive? They won't forgive. Therefore, they (the Poles) should pray that we keep them (the Wagner mercenaries) here, somehow provide for them. Otherwise, without us, they would have infiltrated there and broken into this Rzeszow and Warsaw in such a way that it would not have seemed enough. Therefore, there is no need to reproach me, but they should thank me," Lukashenko said.
Earlier, Lukashenka said at a meeting with Putin that the Wagner mercenaries were "pressuring" him because they wanted to attack Poland.