(Portal) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin’s staunchest ally in the war in Ukraine, said on Friday he was certain Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed in his country would never be used.
Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin have acknowledged that some tactical weapons have arrived in Belarus and the rest would be deployed by the end of the year.
In a speech marking the national day of his former Soviet state, the Belarusian president said that stationing the weapons in Belarus was “my most decisive initiative”.
“The further we go, the more we become convinced that they (the weapons) must be stationed here, in Belarus, in a reliable place,” Lukashenko told a gathering in a large hall in an online broadcast by the state news agency BelTA, with many in attendance waving red and green national flags.
“I’m sure we’ll never have to use them as long as they’re here. And no enemy will ever set foot on our land.”
Like Russia, Lukashenko has repeatedly accused Western countries of wanting to destroy his state, saying the use of nuclear power is necessary to deter potential attackers.
He said this month there were some weapons in Belarus and at one point indicated he would not hesitate to use them if necessary, but added that consultations with Russia were needed.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday that the operation does not violate the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because Russia retains control of the weapons. He told the Russian news agency Tass that the operation was “forced” on Russia.
Lukashenko allowed Putin to launch part of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine from Belarus and backed the war — brokering a deal last week that allowed mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters to move operations to his country.
Neighboring Poland’s National Security Bureau head Jacek Siewiera said Wagner militants relocating to Belarus could use migrants from Africa and other countries to destabilize central and eastern Europe.
The story goes on
Siewiera’s comments to the Financial Times related to clashes at the Belarusian border in 2021 when migrants tried to enter Poland, and Lukashenko was accused of encouraging them to come to the country.
He has been in power since 1994 and has also relied on Putin’s support since he used the security forces to quell demonstrations staged by protesters who have been accused of rigging his last reelection in 2020.
In his remarks, he said that the same Belarusian opposition politicians, most of whom are in exile and who denounced the use of weapons, also criticized the construction of a Russian-built nuclear power plant that is now operational in Belarus.
“I’ve said this before: if you don’t know what to do in this situation or that, and your enemies are screaming and making a fuss, then just do the opposite,” he told the gathering. “If you’re yelling that nuclear weapons are bad, just do the opposite.”
(Reporting by Ronald Popeski; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)