The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, warned on Sunday that the European Union (EU) is ready to introduce new sanctions against Belarus if the country accepts Russian nuclear weapons on its territory.
“The receipt of Russian nuclear weapons by Belarus would constitute an irresponsible escalation and a threat to European security. Belarus can still prevent this. The EU is ready to respond with more sanctions,” Josep Borrell assured in a message on the social network Twitter.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and that 10 aircraft were already equipped to deploy such weapons.
At the end of February, the EU announced the extension of its sanctions against Belarus for a year due to the repression of President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and his support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Under these sanctions, Lukashenko and 194 other regime figures were banned from entering the EU and their assets were frozen.
In addition, 34 entities from Belarus have been sanctioned and all European funding has been banned.
Belarus is also subject to specific economic sanctions, including restrictions on the financial sector, trade, dual-use goods, telecommunications, energy and transport.
This Sunday, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs admitted new sanctions as a way to curb Putin’s nuclear rhetoric.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States also said this Sunday that it had no signs that nuclear weapons had been sent to the allied country of Russia.
Source: DN
