GENEVA (apro).- Russian President Vladimir Putin could station tactical nuclear weapons (“small nuclear weapons”) in Belarus with the help of his Belarusian counterpart Aljaksandr Lukaschenko, warned the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN in English). ), Nobel Peace Prize 2017.
“The risk of the use of tactical nuclear weapons increases due to the fact that on Tuesday the new constitution that the president of Belarus, Aljaksandr Lukaschenko, promoted by which he eliminated the nuclear-weapon-free state of Belarus that it had had since it became a country came into force. an independent state,” said Beatrice Fihn, executive director of ICAN.
At a press conference with ACANU, the association of United Nations correspondents in Geneva, Fihn revealed that “this leaves open the possibility of Russia stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, and we have also heard Russian and Belarusian officials discuss this as an option.”
“The nuclear threat is truly real,” he stressed.
“Putin is blackmailing the world with the use of nuclear weapons and is paralyzing it,” said Fihn, who considered that the possible use of these weapons against Ukraine would have a devastating effect not only for that country, but “it would be catastrophic for the entire world.”
He expressed his fear that if Putin’s planned invasion does not go according to his plans, the autocrat might resort to using these weapons and the danger is that this could escalate into a larger conflict with unforeseen consequences.
“The Belarusian dictator as a result of a referendum modified the constitution and removed its status as a country free of nuclear weapons and this is a really worrying situation and something that the whole world should stand against,” he said.
The world is witnessing the devastating effects of this armed incursion on the lives of millions of Ukrainians, Fihn continued, and also the brewing food crisis, but the use of a nuclear weapon would have “horrendous” effects. , humanitarian aid could not be offered in the area affected by radiation, there would be no food, the water would be contaminated, what was experienced with the Chernobyl disaster is only a fraction of the damage that could be caused.
Moscow’s position is “very hypocritical”, while Russia and Ukraine are holding talks to resolve the conflict, demanding neutrality from kyiv and not joining NATO, and at the same time Putin could position these nuclear weapons on the border with Belarus, For her part, deplored Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a Belarusian politician and activist who is in Geneva.
Tsikhanouskaya, a candidate for the country’s presidency in 2020 after her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky was jailed, was forced to leave her native country due to serious threats against her life after Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, declared himself election winner.
“Dictators are always dangerous, they are unpredictable. They have no respect for international law, they have no respect for diplomacy,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
“The new constitution imposed by Lukashenko is an attack against the law and common sense. Belarusians did not vote for that. It removes the neutrality and nuclear-weapon-free status of Belarus, unties the hands of dictators more and more, aggravating threats to European security,” he reiterated.
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Putin Could Station Tactical Nukes in Belarus, Warns Nobel Peace Laureate