Alexander Lukashenko 'would offer Putin to return nuclear weapons to Belarus'

If NATO moves US atomic bombs from Germany to Eastern Europe, Belarus would be ready to host Russian nuclear weapons, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday. In an interview with Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of Russian state media group Rossiya Segodnya, the Belarusian President was asked about the possible redeployment of US atomic bombs to Eastern Europe if Germany’s new government were no longer willing to house the weapons. To this, Lukashenko responded by saying that he would definitely invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to send nuclear weapons that were withdrawn after the 1991 Soviet collapse back to Belarus.   

“I would offer Putin to return nuclear weapons to Belarus,” Lukashenko said. 

The Belarusian President did not elaborate on what kind of weapons Belarus would be willing to accommodate. But he added that Belarus has carefully preserved the necessary military infrastructure dating back to the Soviet era. During the interview, Lukashenko for the first time stated that he recognises the Crimean Peninsula as part of Russia and plans to visit it soon. 

He said that he considers Crimea part of Russia both de facto and de jure. The Belarusian President added that he planned to visit Crimea on Putin’s invitation. “If the president comes there with the president of Russia, what other form of recognition could there be?” Lukashenko said. He also went on to warn that his country would stand squarely behind Russia if the Ukrainian government launched an offensive against Moscow-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, following Lukashenko’s comments, Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who left Belarus under pressure after unsuccessfully trying to unseat Lukashenko in last year’s election, said, “Such a person shouldn’t be trusted to handle matches, let alone nuclear weapons”. According to AP, Tsikhanouskaya said the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus would violate international arms agreements and the will of Belarus’ people. “The majority of Belarusians have spoken for Belarus’ neutrality,” she said.

Russia-Belarus relations 

It is to mention that Russia is Belarus’ main ally and sponsor. In recent months, Lukashenko has edged closer to Russia ever since he faced Western pressure after being awarded a sixth term in an August 2020 vote that the opposition and the West say was rigged. While Belarusian officials responded to demonstrations triggered by the election with a sweeping crackdown, the EU and the US slapped Belarus with several rounds of sanctions. Additionally, the tensions between Europe, the West and Belarus have also further escalated over the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees on Belarus’ border with EU member Poland. 

Russia, on the other hand, has said that the Western countries are using the migrant crisis in the Belarus-Poland border as a pretext of escalating tensions and exercising pressure on Minsk. Russia has also refuted the accusations and challenged the EU to offer financial assistance to Belarus to deal with the influx. 

(With inputs from AP)