President Alexander Lukashenko stated on Thursday that Belarus would be willing to use the nuclear weapons provided by close ally Russia in the event of foreign “aggression” as tensions along the country’s borders with NATO countries increase.
Moscow has used Belarus as one of its launchpads for the invasion in early 2022, and joint Russia-Belarus military training over the past year have stoked worries that Belarusian troops could join Russian forces in the battle. Minsk has played a significant role in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Belarus apparently received Russian nuclear warheads in June for “deterrence,” according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lukashenko asserted Belarus would “never get involved in this war” until Ukrainians crossed its border in an interview with the state news service Belta. But he added, “We will keep helping Russia, they are our ally.”
He also said that Belarus will “immediately respond with everything we have,” including nuclear weapons, if provoked, particularly by NATO neighbours Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
Although senior officials from the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) said they had “no reason to doubt” Putin’s claim, it is unclear how much of Russia’s nuclear arsenal was recently transported to Belarus, and US and Western officials have not publicly confirmed that any weapons have been transferred.
In an interview, Lukashenko stated that Belarus would not “tarry, wait, and the rest” if it were to come under attack. We’ll employ every weapon in our arsenal to deter.
He continued, “We didn’t bring nuclear weapons here to frighten someone. “Yes, nuclear weapons do serve as a potent deterrent. But these aren’t strategic nuclear weapons; they’re tactical. As soon as hostilities are initiated against us, we will employ them right away.
In July, senior DIA officials stated they did not think Lukashenko would have any influence over the weapons, which they believed would most certainly be completely under Russian control.
With Belarus’ northern neighbours on edge due to the presence of the Russian mercenary organisation Wagner, which is stationed in Belarus in the wake of its brief uprising in Russia earlier this summer, Lukashenko’s most recent remarks come as the security environment in Europe becomes more unstable.
In an apparent effort to exert more pressure on NATO and EU countries, there have been rumours of Wagner troops heading towards a narrow sliver of land between Poland and Lithuania in recent weeks.
Poland recently declared it would send some 10,000 troops to its border with Belarus, citing Wagner-related worries, and detained two Russians on suspicion of espionage and spreading disinformation for the Russian mercenary force.
Due to worries about Wagner forces, Lithuania announced on Wednesday that it will temporarily halt operations at two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus. The interior minister cited “emerging threats to national security and possible provocations at the border.”
As a retaliatory measure, Belarus criticised Lithuania for taking a “unconstructive and unfriendly step,” calling its Wagner justification “far-fetched.”
In the interview on Thursday, Lukashenko rejected the idea that the failed Wagner mutiny may have undermined Putin, labelling such accusations as “total nonsense.”
“Putin is now more active, shrewd, and intelligent. Nobody will remove Putin today, Lukashenko added, and our enemies need to know it.
He added that the decision to send Wagner fighters to Belarus had come from him. He remarked, “The rebellion could have been terrible to everyone, thus it was important to accept any terms in order to quiet this mutiny, to put out this fire.
According to the Polish ambassador, Poland is preparing for “growing aggressiveness” from Russia and Belarus.
On Thursday, Lukashenko added his voice to the discussion of the ongoing conflict by announcing that Moscow would never relinquish the Crimean peninsula that it had illegitimately taken from Ukraine over seven years earlier.
Russia will “never ever return Crimea,” he declared, according to Belta, even though it is willing to negotiate with Ukraine.
“It won’t take place. I don’t think we can come to an agreement here in the east right now. But Russia is open to talking on any subject. I am positive of it,” Lukashenko remarked.
However, he asserted that Ukrainians “are pushed by Americans” and do not currently want to discuss, adding that negotiations “have to start without preliminary conditions.” Belarus should be a part of any peace negotiations over Ukraine because “we have our interests there, and our position should be heard,” he continued.
In 2014, shortly after Ukrainian protesters assisted in the overthrow of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia forcibly annexed Crimea when tens of thousands of its special operations forces deployed throughout the peninsula in unmarked uniforms.
Following a referendum that was denounced as invalid by Ukraine and the majority of the world, Russia finished annexing Crimea two weeks later. At the time, this was seen to be the largest land grab in Europe since World War II.
Human rights watchdogs have noted Crimea’s transformation into a police state after annexation, with local officials and Russian security forces arresting and prosecuting those believed to be loyal to Ukraine, notably members of the Crimean Tatar population.
A 2020 US State Department study detailed a pattern of illegal or arbitrarily carried out killings and forced disappearances in Crimea by Russian or Russian-led authorities.
Since then, the occupied region has played a significant role in the conflict in Ukraine. The Crimean bridge, which connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland, serves as a crucial supply route for Russian forces and a target for the Ukrainian operation.
Belarus, a former Soviet satellite that proclaimed its independence in 1990, is an autocratic nation that Lukashenko has essentially ruled since the country’s declaration of independence.