Opposition urges international community to prevent deployment of Russian nukes in Belarus

April 5, BPN. The joint transition cabinet has issued a statement demanding that Russia abandon its plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus and withdraw all troops and military facilities.

The statement urges the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, and other states and international organizations committed to maintaining peace and security to act immediately. 

It suggests introducing swift and extensive sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s and Alaksandr Łukašenka’s regimes to prevent the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus against the will of the Belarusian people. 

The transition cabinet asked the UN Secretary General to give a legal assessment of Russia’s nuclear plans in Belarus. It also appealed to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Estonia with a proposal to jointly develop a common position and action plan to prevent the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The statement described Russia’s nuclear plan as “a blatant act of violation of sovereignty” of Belarus, posing a serious threat to its independence and undermining international peace and security.

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the construction of 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 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 state’s western border.