Advisor to Lithuanian president says Russian nuclear threat in Belarus to be taken seriously

April 4, BPN. Speaking about the prospect of Russia using its nuclear weapons, an advisor to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said this was possible.

“Such a weapon was already used in the Second World War, and, in theory, it cannot be ruled out that it could be used again. Again, with that in mind, everything must be done to ensure that it is not used,” Asta Skaisgirytė told Žinių Radijas on April 4, as quoted by LRT.

She added that she would suggest “taking seriously talks that Russian nuclear weapons could be deployed in Belarus.”

“Yes, it would be an escalatory step, and yes, it would not increase our security. On the contrary, it would decrease the security of the whole region,” Skaisgirytė said.

Lithuania and other countries are also concerned about the deployment of Iskander missile systems and other conventional weapons in Belarus or Kaliningrad, she said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel on March 25 that a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would be completed by July 1. The West and Belarusian democratic forces denounced this plan, while China opposed using nuclear weapons or fighting nuclear wars.

On March 31, Alaksandr Łukašenka said in his state of the union speech that the upcoming deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus is an attempt to protect the state, not an act of intimidation.

Moscow’s envoy to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, said the storage facility for Russian nuclear weapons would be built near the Russian-Belarusian union’s western border.