Russia warns West and Ukraine of 'disastrous consequences' if Kyiv moves against Belarus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned the West and Ukraine on Friday of "disastrous consequences" if Kyiv moved against close Russian ally Belarus, making clear it would intervene to defend a country where it has deployed tactical nuclear weapons.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow was concerned by what she called increasingly "provocative" activity on the border with Belarus, saying she did not rule out that there could be attempts to escalate in the region.

Days after Ukraine's surprise Aug. 6 incursion into Russia's Kursk region, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko - a loyal ally of President Vladimir Putin - suggested, without providing evidence, that Kyiv may have ideas about attacking Belarus.

Minsk, which has accused Ukrainian drones of violating its airspace, later announced it was sending extra troops to its border with Ukraine, though Kyiv said it had seen no major changes in the border area.

"We take due note of the information received about the intensification of the activities of Ukrainian forces in the border zone," said Zakharova.

"We see these facts ourselves and are aware of constant attempts from the Ukrainian side to use drones and to send terrorists into the republic," she added.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said last month that the country "has never taken and is not going to take any unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people".

In a clear reference to Ukraine's Kursk incursion, Zakharova said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had shown he was capable of what she called "reckless steps", accusing him of coordinating his action with Washington ahead of a November U.S. presidential election.

"Therefore, in line with this logic, we do not rule out the possibility that these destructive forces could set the situation in the region in motion and escalate."

She said Russia and Belarus were part of a "Union State" and had undertaken to jointly defend their common borders, pointing out that a joint regional military grouping was deployed in Belarus along with Russian tactical nuclear weapons.

"The practical implementation of any scenarios which are aggressive towards Minsk is fraught with disastrous consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for its sponsors," she said.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)