Belarus ready to deploy strategic nuclear weapons to stave off Western threat

Belarus is ready to agree with Russia on the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons on the territory of the republic, President Alexander Lukashenko said in his address.

“If necessary, strategic nuclear weapons will be deployed in Belarus,” he said.

Lukashenko said that he instructed to immediately restore the sites in Belarus where Topol missile systems had been stored in the past.

Belarus has thus raised the issue of brining nuclear weapons back to the country after they were removed in the 1990s.

Speaking before the Parliament on March 31, Lukashenko said that he stepped up negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin “on the return of nuclear weapons” to Belarus.

“It goes about the return of nuclear weapons that were withdrawn in the 1990s under guarantees – no sanctions against those who withdrew, no pressure, no planning of an offensive and no revolutions. Everything has been crushed and broken. I have the right to raise the issue of returning nuclear weapons,” Lukashenko said.

According to him, he suspended the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Belarus in 1994-1995, but then found himself under pressure, including from the President of Russia.

“I still remember him saying to me: “Well, you need to understand, they will crush and destroy, and you won’t be able to serve strategic warheads,” Lukashenko continued. — <…> The pressure was incredible back then. We had nothing but our own currency. I was forced to retreat under certain guarantees. Everything has been trampled on and forgotten,” Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko’s goal is to “secure the Belarusian state and ensure peace for the Belarusian people.” “We don’t want to live under a whip anymore and we won’t be slaves,” Lukashenko summed up.

According to him, Belarus is ready to ensure sovereignty and independence, including with the help of a nuclear arsenal.

“We will preserve and ensure sovereignty and independence, including with the help of a nuclear arsenal. Those are our weapons that will ensure sovereignty and independence,” he said.

See more at https://english.pravda.ru/news/world/156222-belarus_nuclear/