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 rey to host Russian nuclear weapons, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday. In an interview with Dmitry Kiselyov, he of Russian state media group Rossiya Segodnya, Belarusian President was asked about possible redeployment of US atomic bombs to Eastern Europe if Germany’s new government were longer willing to house weapons. To this, Lukashenko responded by saying that he would definitely invite Russian President Vlimir Putin to send nuclear weapons that were withdrawn after 1991 Soviet collapse back to Belarus.   

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

Belarusian President did t elaborate on what kind of weapons Belarus would be willing to accommodate. But he ded that Belarus has carefully preserved necessary military infrastructure dating back to Soviet era. During interview, Lukashenko for first time stated that he recognises 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. Belarusian President ded that he planned to visit Crimea on Putin’s invitation. “If president comes re with president of Russia, what or form of recognition could re be?” Lukashenko said. He also went on to warn that his country would stand squarely behind Russia if Ukrainian government launched an offensive against Moscow-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, following Lukashenko’s comments, Opposition leer Sviatlana Tsikhauskaya, 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, Tsikhauskaya said deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus would violate international arms agreements and will of Belarus’ people. “ 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 opposition and West say was rigged. While Belarusian officials responded to demonstrations triggered by election with a sweeping crackdown, EU and US slapped Belarus with several rounds of sanctions. ditionally, tensions between Europe, West and Belarus have also furr escalated over arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees on Belarus’ border with EU member Poland. 

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

(With inputs from AP)