Lukashenko accuses Poland and its neighbours of fueling protests in Belarus

Lukashenko kept saying he won an August 9 presidential election by a landslide, but protesters say it was marred by massive vote-rigging allegations and have taken to the streets for more than three weeks demanding he step down.

"The foreign influence is huge, it origins from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine - that is we are the most concerned about. You heard yesterday the Russian foreign ministry Lavrov's statement. He said - though he is very discreet and careful in that respect - but he said openly about what is happening at (our) borders. We, of course, react for any adverse action towards Belarus. The most important thing for us - do not allow fanning the fire in Minsk. Because it always starts in the capital and then spreads across the country," he said.

Lukashenko has denied accusations by the Belarus opposition and Western countries that the vote was rigged. He has accused NATO of a military buildup near Belarus' borders, something the alliance denied, and has said he will ask for Russian military help if needed.

"You know very well that there is the red line nobody is allowed to cross. If it happens - we, naturally, will react to the fullest extent of the law. So I ask you to inform people about it. They should not blame me of some lack of determination. There is no lack of determination. The country operates. Many, especially our neighbours abroad, want us to collapse," said the President of Belarus.

U.S. troops and tanks will arrive in Lithuania on Friday for a two-month deployment near the Belarus border, but the government said the move was not a message to its Russian-backed neighbour, where protests continue over a disputed election.

In an announcement on Wednesday evening, NATO member Lithuania said U.S. troops will be moved from Poland for pre-planned military exercises. These are "defensive in nature and not directed against any neighbour, including Belarus," it added.

Lukashenko singled out Poland as a country, in his opinion, having a vested interest in the downfall of Belarus.

"The same in Poland. They saw Poles live in Belarus. But they are our Belarusian Poles. I said in many times - they are our Poles. We have been living together in peace during a quarter-century of Lukashenko's rule and have not had any problems. But of course, we will never bear with Poland flags on balconies on Grodno. Nor with the statements that if Belarus collapse Grodno region will become Polish. It will not become anything. Nobody will allow the dissolution of Belarus. We have enough tools for it," Lukashenka stressed.

The Belarusian opposition remain united in wanting to hold new elections and stop human rights abuses, a member of an opposition council said on Thursday, after a rare public disagreement about how to unseat President Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenko faces the biggest challenge of his 26-year rule since claiming victory in an election last month that opponents say was rigged. Lukashenko denies electoral fraud and shows no sign of backing down despite the threat of Western sanctions.

This week, election challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya criticised the strategy of another opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova and the team of jailed candidate Viktor Babariko to bring constitutional reform, saying it was a distraction from the goal of removing Lukashenko and holding new elections.

"When it comes to constitutional changes, this is just one initiative of the coordination council. But what unites us, new elections, is certain," Pavel Latushko, a former Belarusian minister and a leading member of the opposition council, told Reuters when asked about the potential rift.

"This social movement, this social platform that was created in Belarus has two main goals. The first - to end human rights abuses and to free all those who were detained for political reasons. And secondly, to accept that the election results were falsified and that new presidential elections should be held in Belarus. Here, we have absolute agreement," he explained.

Thousands of people were detained during protests after the election. U.N. human rights investigators said on Tuesday they had received reports of hundreds of cases of torture, beatings and mistreatment. The government denies abusing detainees.

Latushko's comments were made during a visit to Warsaw, which will be followed by a trip to Lithuania on Friday. He told Reuters he would be visiting other European capitals.