2023-06-14 06:16:00
Ukraine and the West condemn Belarus and Russia
Concerns regarding Europe’s ‘nuclear imbalance and nuclear proliferation’
Belarus says it has begun deliveries of tactical nuclear weapons from Russia. “Some of these have three times the power of Hiroshima,” said President Alexander Lukashenko. “We will not hesitate to use them if necessary.” It is the first time Russia has moved nuclear warheads out of its borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Forty-four countries, including Ukraine and the West, have condemned the decision to transfer nuclear weapons.
According to Archyde.com and TASS News Agency on the 14th, President Lukashenko responded to the question, “Have you already received tactical nuclear weapons from Russia?” We are receiving them sequentially,” he replied. “This atomic bomb is three times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he added.
He went on to say, “If we bring in all of them (tactical nuclear weapons), we will distribute them all over Belarus.”
President Lukashenko also dismissed Russia’s control of weapons as not being an obstacle to the use of weapons, saying, “It will not be possible to use them without Russia (approval), but I and Russian President Vladimir Putin can call each other anytime.”
In an interview with the state-run Velta news agency the previous day, President Lukashenko emphasized that Russia’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Russia is for deterrence once morest “potential aggressors,” and that it “will not hesitate to use them if necessary.” Belarus has argued that Ukraine might threaten its security during a war with Russia.
President Lukashenko’s remarks on the day suggest that the transfer of Russian tactical nuclear weapons is proceeding without a hitch. On the 9th, Russian President Putin said, “The deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed between the 7th and 8th of next month,” and “everything is going according to plan.”
Russia is using the ‘advance deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus’ card in response to Western weapons aid to Ukraine. Belarus and Russia agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in March. Belarus went through a constitutional amendment at the end of February last year, immediately following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and deleted Article 18 of the Constitution, which states that “we aim to denuclearize the territory and become a neutral state.”
It is the first time in 27 years since 1996 that Russian nuclear weapons have been moved out of its territory. This redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons does not violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It transfers nuclear weapons abroad, but it is because Russia has control. It is on the same level as the US has maintained tactical nuclear weapons in Germany, Italy, and Turkey.
Nonetheless, it is difficult to avoid concerns that it might upset Europe’s nuclear balance and encourage nuclear proliferation. This is because Russian nuclear weapons will be placed right in front of the eastern border of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Belarus borders Lithuania, Latvia and Poland among NATO member states.
The day before, 44 countries, including South Korea, the United States, the European Union (EU), and Ukraine, condemned Russia’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons at a disarmament conference held at the United Nations office in Geneva. In their joint statement, they expressed “deep concern over the signing of the Agreement to Place Nuclear Weapons in Belarus by Russia and Belarus and the statements made by officials from both governments following it.” will,” he urged. Hungary, which has deviated from the line of sanctions once morest Russia despite being a member of NATO, did not participate this time either.
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