G7 foreign ministers condemn Russia’s nuclear plans in Belarus

April 17, BPN. “Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric is unacceptable,” G7 foreign ministers said at the April 17 meeting in Karuizawa, Japan’s foreign ministry’s press office reported.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The move would further increase tension, he noted.

The G7 and other like-minded countries should maintain unity, continue supporting Ukraine and sanction Russia, the diplomat said. It is also important to prevent sanctions evasion and circumvention as well as block third-party weapon supplies to Russia, he noted.

The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In late March, Vladimir Putin said a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons would be completed in Belarus by July 1. The West and Belarusian democratic forces denounced this plan, while China opposed using nuclear weapons or fighting nuclear wars.

On April 2, Moscow’s envoy to Belarus said the storage facility would be located near the Russian-Belarusian union’s western border.

On the next day, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Putin’s announcement aimed at undermining support for Ukraine from the bloc and its partners. NATO is closely watching Russia’s activities, but “so far we haven’t seen any changes in their nuclear posture that requires any change in our nuclear posture,” he stressed.

The West will not be able to influence Kremlin’s nuclear plans in Belarus, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.