West left us no choice but to deploy nuclear arms, claims Belarus official

West left us no choice but to deploy nuclear arms, claims Belarus official

May 29, 2023 - 13:30
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West left us no choice but to deploy nuclear arms, claims Belarus official

Western nations have left Belarus with little alternative but to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons and should be careful not to “cross red lines” on vital strategic problems, according to a senior Belarusian official reported on Sunday.

According to Alexander Volfovich, state secretary of Belarus’ Security Council, it was reasonable that the weapons were evacuated following the 1991 Soviet collapse because the US had offered security guarantees while imposing no penalties.

“Today, everything has been torn down. All the promises made are gone forever,” the Belta news agency quoted Volfovich as telling an interviewer on state television.

Belarus, governed by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, is Russia’s staunchest ally among ex-Soviet republics, and it has authorised the Kremlin to utilise its territory to begin an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Last week, Russia decided to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil to achieve certain military benefits.

Russia claims its “special military operation” in Ukraine was launched to confront what it calls a “collective West” campaign to wage a proxy war and destroy Moscow.

“The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus is, therefore, one of the steps of strategic deterrence. If there remains any reason in the heads of Western politicians, of course, they will not cross this red line,” Volfovich said.

He said any resort to using “even tactical nuclear weapons will lead to irreversible consequences.”

Lukashenko last week said the weapons were already on the move, but it is not yet clear when they will be in place.

The United States has denounced the prospective deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus but says its stance on the use of such weapons has not been altered.

Western sanctions were imposed on Belarus long before the invasion in connection with Lukashenko’s clampdown on human rights, particularly the repression of mass protests against what his opponents said was his rigged re-election in 2020.

After independence from Soviet rule, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan agreed to their weapons being removed and returned to Russia as part of international efforts to contain proliferation.

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