MOSCOW, 13 Jun: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that he wouldn\u2019t hesitate to order the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons that are set to be deployed to Belarus if his country faces an aggression.
\nEarlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the planned deployment of short-range nuclear weapons to Moscow\u2019s neighbor and ally Belarus in a move widely seen as a warning to the West as it stepped up military support for Ukraine.
\nPutin has emphasized that Russia will retain control of them, but Lukashenko\u2019s statement contradicted that.
\n\u201cGod forbid I have to make a decision to use those weapons today, but there would be no hesitation if we face an aggression,\u201d Lukashenko, known for his blustery statements, said in comments released by his office.
\nRussian officials had no immediate comment on Lukashenko\u2019s remarks.
\nLukashenko emphasized that it was he who had asked Putin to deploy Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus. He argued that the move was necessary to deter a potential aggression.
\n\u201cI believe no one would be willing to fight a country that has those weapons,\u201d Lukashenko said. \u201cThose are weapons of deterrence.\u201d
\nPutin said during Friday\u2019s meeting with Lukashenko that work on building facilities for the nuclear weapons will be completed by July 7-8, and they will be moved to Belarusian territory quickly after that.
\nLukashenko said Tuesday that \u201ceverything is ready\u201d for the Russian nuclear weapons\u2019 deployment, adding that \u201cit could take just a few days for us to get what we had asked for and even a bit more.\u201d
\nTactical nuclear weapons are intended to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield. They have a relatively short range and a much lower yield than nuclear warheads fitted to intercontinental ballistic missiles that are capable of obliterating whole cities.
\nLukashenko said that Belarus doesn\u2019t need Russia\u2019s strategic nuclear weapons to be deployed to its territory. \u201cAm I going to fight America? No,\u201d he said.
\nThe Belarusian leader added, however, that Belarus was readying facilities for intercontinental nuclear-tipped missiles as well, just in case.
\nAlong with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Belarus hosted a significant share of Soviet nuclear arsenals when they were all part of the Soviet Union. Those weapons were withdrawn to Russia after the 1991 Soviet collapse under a deal sponsored by the U.S.
\nRussia didn\u2019t say how many of its tactical nuclear weapons would be sent to Belarus. The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.
\nRussia used Belarus\u2019 territory to send its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and has kept forces and weapons on the territory of its ally. Lukashenko said Tuesday that Belarus would bolster production of unguided rockets for multiple rocket launchers
\nLukashenko, who has been in power for 29 years, has relied on Russia\u2019s political and economic support to survive months of protests, mass arrests and Western sanctions following an election in 2020 that kept him in power but was widely seen at home and abroad as rigged. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOSCOW, 13 Jun: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday that he wouldn\u2019t hesitate to order the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons that are set to be deployed to Belarus if his country faces an aggression. Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the planned deployment of short-range nuclear weapons to Moscow\u2019s neighbor and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-218317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}