JABAR EKSPRES – Tactical nuclear weapons are being deployed in Belarus in response to the militarization of Eastern Europe, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday (8/15).
“By deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, we are precisely responding to the rapid militarization of Eastern Europe and the increasing military activity of the United States and NATO,” Lukashenko told participants of the 11th Moscow International Security Conference, according to a statement from the Belarus presidency.
The statement quoted him as saying that information warfare and cybercrime have become a new type of weapon undermining international trade and economic relations.
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“Against this background, there remains a consistent advocate of ensuring peace and security, fulfilling previously assumed international obligations, the Republic of Belarus – together with its partners and within the framework of the State Union of Belarus and Russia – makes every effort to strengthen interaction in the fight against transnational challenges and various kinds of threats,” he said.
Lukashenko noted, however, that the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons does not invalidate the Minsk-proposed peace initiative “to relaunch the dialog on issues related to European and global security on a common basis.”
He also said the current international situation remains “unprecedentedly tense,” adding that “almost all known challenges and threats have intensified.”
“International law on arms control has been discredited. The risk is increasing that weapons of destruction will be used, especially for provocations involving nuclear and biological weapons,” he said.
He went on to express confidence that meetings during the conference in Moscow would serve to “strengthen cooperation between states and peoples and be an important step towards building a new system of international security.”
In late May, the defense ministers of Russia and Belarus signed an agreement on the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the move was in response to growing security risks, emphasizing that Moscow was following the US, which has deployed its tactical nuclear weapons in European countries.
