Russian President Vladimir Putin received his counterpart from Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, at the Kremlin this Wednesday to explain the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory and Minsk’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine.
At the start of the meeting, Putin thanked his Belarusian ally for visiting, to which Lukashenko replied that Russia and Belarus “will not fall,” according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
According to the Kremlin (Russian presidency), this Wednesday’s meeting was informal and precedes a meeting, scheduled for Thursday, of the Supreme Council of the State Union, an alliance that integrates both countries.
Led by Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, Belarus, a neighbor of the European Union (EU), is linked to Moscow by a treaty that established the State Union. The treaty, which updated a 1997 agreement, was signed on December 8, 1999 by Putin and Lukashenko.
Putin recently announced an agreement with Minsk to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. On Tuesday, the two countries announced that they would begin training Belarusian soldiers in the use of this weapon.
The Russian leader explained that Lukashenko had asked for this shipment several times and argued that the United States has been doing the same for decades with its so-called satellite countries in Europe.
Putin added that the silos intended to collect this armament will be ready in July, despite the fact that Minsk already has warhead-carrying aircraft.
Last week, Lukashenko admitted to asking Russia for strategic nuclear weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, if needed.
“We will stop at nothing when it comes to defending our countries and our peoples”he said at the time.
In a reference to Minsk’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine, the Belarusian leader is proposing a ceasefire in which neither side can mobilize troops or weapons, as well as starting negotiations without preconditions.
Two weeks ago, Putin was also briefed on the peace plan proposed by China during the visit to Russia of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who had been asked by the West to use his influence over the Kremlin to end the ongoing conflict on Ukrainian territory.
Both Moscow and Kiev believe that there are still no “prospects” for negotiations.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.6 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.1 million to European countries – according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At the moment, at least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million people need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia to impose political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 8,451 dead civilians and 14,156 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are well below the real ones.
Source: DN
