Ukraine on Sunday convened an emergency UN Security Council meeting to counter Russia’s “nuclear blackmail” after Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.
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The European Union has threatened Minsk with fresh sanctions if the operation goes ahead, while the United States said it has “no signs” that Moscow intends to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Belarus, an ally of Moscow, borders Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania.
“Ukraine expects effective measures to counter the nuclear blackmail of the Kremlin from Britain, China, the United States and France,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement as permanent members of the UN Security Council.
“We demand that an extraordinary session of the United Nations Security Council be convened without delay for this purpose,” he added, also calling on the G7 and the EU to put pressure on Belarus, threatening it with “significant consequences” if it did he would agree to the Russian deployment.
As the first western country to react to Vladimir Putin’s announcement, Germany condemned a “new attempt at nuclear intimidation” by Moscow.
“We will not let these threats derail us from our course,” a State Department official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
NATO has criticized “dangerous and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” and said it is “monitoring the situation closely”. And the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, denounced an “irresponsible escalation and a threat to European security” and warned that the EU was “ready” to impose new sanctions on Minsk.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby asserted that nothing at this stage would cause the United States to “change (its) position on strategic deterrence”.
Ukraine’s Security Council Secretary Oleksiï Danilov had earlier on Sunday estimated that “the Kremlin (had) taken Belarus as a nuclear hostage” and that the Russian intention represented a “step towards internal destabilization of the country” directed by Alexander in 1994 Lukashenko.
Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that Russia would deploy “tactical” nuclear weapons in Belarus and that 10 aircraft had already been equipped to use this type of weapon.
“There is nothing unusual here: the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long stationed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies,” Putin said in an interview on Russian television.
“We agreed to do the same,” he added, saying he plans to “train the crews” from April 3 and “complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus” on July 1. .
The United States stockpiles nuclear weapons at bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. “Tactical” nuclear weapons are less powerful than “strategic” ones, but their effects remain deadly and unpredictable.
Mr Putin “admits that he is afraid of losing (the war) and that he can only scare,” Mykhaïlo Podoliak, an aide to Ukraine’s president, tweeted on Sunday. He also accused the Russian leader of “violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
Mr Putin assured that this operation in Belarus would take place “without violating our international agreements on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons”.
According to Ukrainian authorities, when Belarus is not directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, Moscow has used its territory to lead its offensive on Kiev in 2022 or to conduct strikes.
Vladimir Putin justified his decision on Saturday by citing the UK’s desire to send depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine, a British official recently mentioned.
Mr. Putin threatened to also use these types of shells, which are used to pierce armor, if Kiev received them. He called this type of gun projectile one of the “most dangerous” and “produces what is known as radiation dust.”
However, several Russian officials, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, have threatened Ukraine and westerners with nuclear weapons since the start of the Russian offensive launched on February 24, 2022.
Russian nuclear doctrine does not provide for the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons by Russia, only in response to an attack against Russia or its allies, or in the event of a “threat to the existence of the state.”