Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus: Concerns in the UN Security Council
A majority of members of the UN Security Council expressed concern over the threat of nuclear proliferation at a meeting on Friday on Moscow’s announced deployment of “tactical” nuclear weapons in Belarus. This meeting took place at the request of Ukraine.
“This is an additional blow to the architecture of arms control (…) and to international security,” said French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière at the meeting.
“No country is threatening Russian sovereignty,” added British Deputy Ambassador James Kariuki, who sees the Russian announcement as “a new attempt at intimidation”. “It hasn’t worked before and it won’t work. We will continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself,” he added.
While France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other members of the Council unequivocally condemned Moscow’s announcement, some Russians and Westerners back-to-back fired. “You cannot cure evil with evil,” said Brazilian Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho.
Russia has cited NATO’s “nuclear sharing” policy, and in particular the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Europe, to justify its deal with Belarus. Moscow repeated this argument before the Security Council on Friday.