Moscow/Minsk: If the countries that left the Russian Union (Soviet Russia) want to increase their defence capabilities by having nuclear weapons, they will have to increase their proximity to Russia, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, advised. Last week, the defence ministers of Russia and Belarus signed a final agreement on the deployment of nuclear weapons. After that, in an interview given to a Russian channel, the Belarusian President created a sensation by indicating that Russia may provide nuclear weapons to other countries.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin in March had announced that “In the next few months, Russia will deploy its ‘Tactical Nuclear Weapons’ in Belarus.” President Putin explained that this deployment is in response to the UK’s decision to provide Ukraine with cannonballs made using ‘depleted uranium’. It is the first time since the 1990s that Russia has deployed its nuclear weapons outside Russia.  

After the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, President Putin emphasized increasing defence cooperation with Belarus. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and senior officials visited Belarus with President Putin during the Ukraine conflict. Several agreements were also signed to boost defence cooperation between the two countries. It had a provision to deploy missile and air defence systems and Russian armed forces. According to this agreement, Russia has deployed around 10 thousand soldiers in Belarus. Along with this, the S-400 air defence system and Iskander missiles have been deployed in Belarus.  

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had demanded nuclear weapons from Russia a few months ago. President Putin had announced that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons per Belarus’ demand. By July, the work of creating the necessary sites for storing nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed, and after that, Russian nuclear weapons will be deployed to Belarus, said Putin. However, the agreement was reached last week, and sources from both countries have indicated that the process of moving and storing Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus has already begun.  

In the wake of the events, the Belarusian President revealed that other countries could also have nuclear weapons just like them in an interview with “Russia 1 TV”. For this, the countries that left the Russian Federation will have to show their readiness to be a part of the Russia-Belarus Union (a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics), said Lukashenko. He also claimed that this is his personal opinion. 

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