Putin's ally reveals what could trigger World War III: 'Very serious'
Ongoing fears around a global war have grown since Russia first invaded Ukraine last month.
Despite peace talks between the two countries continuing, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – an ally of Russia – has warned "peacekeepers" could be the very thing to trigger World War III.
Russian troops have been stationed in Belarus for the entirety of the war with President Putin using the bordering nation as a way into Ukraine.
And although Mr Lukashenko has refrained from joining Russia in its attack on Ukraine, sending in peacekeepers, he said, "would mean World War III", Sky News reported.
"The situation is very serious and very tense," he added.
His remarks were in response to Poland's position on sending a peacekeeping force "immediately" into Ukraine.
The country said it would submit a proposal for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at the next NATO summit.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski – the head of Poland’s ruling party – said the force should have the ability to defend itself and should be deployed immediately.
"It will be a mission that will strive for peace, to give humanitarian aid, but at the same time it will also be protected by appropriate forces, armed forces," he said.
Mr Putin, however, warned that doing so would lead to "consequences you have never seen in your history".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also attacked the proposal saying it's an "extremely dangerous decision" to send peacekeepers into Ukraine, Reuters reported.
He said the move would be "very reckless" and told reporters on a conference call that any possible contact between Russian and NATO forces "could have clear consequences that would be hard to repair".
This comes as the Australian government announced more sanctions against high profile individuals in Minsk, and in Belarus and Moscow, including President Lukashenko and his family.
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The sanctions will also target 22 "Russian propagandists and disinformation operatives," according to Sky News.
The EU also announced on Wednesday it would launch sanctions against the Belarusian president.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Friday that the move will ensure Russia and its supporters "pay a high cost".
"The Belarusian Government allowed Russian military forces to train in their country for weeks ahead of the invasion," she said
"Since then, it has allowed Russia to fire ballistic missiles from Belarus into Ukraine, enabled the transport of Russian military personnel, heavy weapons and tanks into Ukraine, provided refuelling points in Belarus for Russian military aircraft and stored Russian weapons and military equipment."
Expert confident Putin 'will fail' to take control of Ukraine
Despite images emerging depicting crumbling buildings and the lifeless bodies of Ukrainian civilians, one expert suggests Russia's forces are 'weakening'.
Speaking on the ABC, Kurt Volker, former US ambassador to NATO and Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations said President Vladimir Putin is “struggling” and will fail in his attempt to seize the nation.
“When you look at the numbers, you look at the fact that the Russian forces haven't taken any major cities at this point,” Mr Volker told ABC’s Joe O’Brien.
“They are still bombing them but they are unable to advance. The convoys of vehicles that have been there for weeks now, it has been four weeks. They are still not advancing.”
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