In an interview with Al Arabiya posted on his website, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said drawing Belarus into the Russia–Ukraine war would be unacceptable — and apologized to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

During the interview, an Al Arabiya reporter asked Lukashenko to comment on statements by Ukrainian officials and military figures about the threat of a Russian offensive from Belarusian territory.

He said he and Putin both considered drawing Belarus into the war “absolutely unacceptable.” Drawing Belarus into the war would cause more harm than good, Lukashenko said.

“Belarus is very vulnerable militarily,” Lukashenko said. “Because everything in Belarus is in plain sight of the Ukrainian military. We understand perfectly well that our main critical infrastructure facilities — production and logistics — would come under attack.” He said Ukraine has “absolutely nothing” to fear from Belarus.

Lukashenko acknowledged he may have “gone overboard” in his earlier remarks about Zelensky. He said he had made the remarks in response to statements and threats from Ukraine.

“If Vladimir Alexandrovich [Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky] took offense, I apologize to him for those words,” Lukashenko said. “Maybe it wasn’t necessary [to say them], given that he is, after all, fighting a war. Maybe I didn’t need to speak about it so harshly. But on the other hand, he should understand — we often say what goes around comes around.”

He also said Zelensky needed to be more careful and more cautious, and to “calm down” and stop “provoking Belarusians.”

Zelensky said in April that military activity in Belarus had increased, warning that Russia might try to draw the country into the war. Lukashenko previously said that he does not want war but is prepared to enter one if Ukraine attacks Belarus.