2023-06-14 20:25:18
Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin
MINSK – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko declared on Tuesday that his country has received some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons and warned that he will not hesitate to order their use in the event of an attack on his country.
The reckless words of the Belarusian dictator contradict previous statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stated that Russian nuclear weapons would be deployed next month in Belarus and stressed that they will remain under the exclusive control of Moscow.
Earlier this year, Putin announced the planned deployment of short-range nuclear weapons in Moscow’s neighboring country and ally in a move widely seen as a warning to the West, which has increased its military support for Ukraine.
During his meeting with Lukashenko on Friday, Putin said that the construction of the weapons facilities could be completed by July 7-8, and they would be moved to Belarusian territory quickly.
Lukasehnko said on Tuesday that “everything is ready” for the deployment of Russian weapons, adding that “it will only take us a few days to receive what we have asked for and even a little longer.”
When asked later on a Russian television show whether Belarus had already received some of the weapons, Lukashenko replied somewhat modestly: “Not all, little by little.”
“We have received Russia’s missiles and bombs,” he said, adding that the Russian nuclear weapons to be deployed in his country are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the United States dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
“God forbid that I have to make a decision to use these weapons today, but there will be no qualms if we face an attack,” said Lukashenko, known for his belligerent comments, according to statements previously reported by the state news agency BeITA.
In later remarks on Russian state television on Tuesday, Lukashenko made it clear that he would consult Putin before using any of the weapons.
MEDVEDEV’S THREAT
A close Putin ally said Wednesday that there is no reason for Moscow not to destroy its enemies’ underwater communication cables, given the alleged Western complicity in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions.
On September 26, there was a sharp drop in pressure in both pipelines and seismologists detected explosions, sparking a wave of speculation about sabotage of one of Russia’s most important energy corridors.
It is still unclear what exactly happened and Western countries have denied involvement. Some US and European officials initially suggested that Russia was to blame for blowing up its own oil pipeline, an interpretation that President Vladimir Putin dismissed as idiotic.
In recent months, US newspapers such as The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have reported that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) knew of a Ukrainian plot to attack the pipelines. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied that Ukraine attacked them.
“If we start from the demonstrated complicity of Western countries in the blowing up of the Nord Stream (gas pipelines), then we are left with no restriction – not even a moral one – that prevents us from destroying our enemies’ submarine cable communications,” he said on Telegram. Medvedev, former Russian president who is now vice president of the Russian Security Council.
The submarine cables that cross the world’s oceans have become the arteries of global communications. Their importance has made them the center of a growing geopolitical competition between China and Russia, on the one hand, and the United States and its Western allies, on the other.
Russia has repeatedly said that the West — and in particular the United States and the United Kingdom — were behind the Nord Stream explosions. The Kremlin has repeatedly said that the world must know the truth about what happened.
Moscow has demanded an international investigation into the destruction of the gas pipelines, a project designed by the Kremlin to bypass Ukraine and export its gas below the Baltic Sea directly to Western Europe.
“It would be useful to reflect on the reasons for the stubborn unwillingness of the collective West to launch a transparent and objective international investigation under the auspices of the UN Security Council,” said Andrey Ledenev, Minister Counselor at the Russian Embassy in Washington. .
1686775675
#Belarus #receives #nuclear #weapons #Putin #threatens #AlMomento.net