Belarusian and Russian media reported earlier on Thursday that the two countries’ defense ministers have met and signed an agreement to be able to place Russian nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil.
Allowing Russian nuclear weapons to be placed in Belarus constitutes a “decisive response” to “unfriendly countries”, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Chrenin is quoted by the Belarusian news agency Belta. He states that Belarus and Russia’s military cooperation should continue to be deepened.
In the past year, Belarus has already received Russian short-range robotic systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin already announced in March that Russian nuclear weapons would be placed in Belarus and that facilities for this would be ready by July 1. He then claimed that this happened at the request of Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Lukashenko’s regime has become increasingly dependent on Russia following the large mass protests that took place in Belarus following the last presidential election. Russia then helped put them down and the formal union state of which the countries are a part has deepened much more since then.
When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last February, Russian forces were allowed to advance from Belarusian soil.
Tags: Lukashenko Russian nuclear weapons
