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Putin stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus - Lukashenko in trouble?

2023-03-30T17:07:58.279Z


By stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus, Putin is probably attempting to “divide” the West. In addition, Lukashenko's step could cause problems.


By stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus, Putin is probably attempting to “divide” the West.

In addition, Lukashenko's step could cause problems.

Belarus – Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin put politicians on alert with his announcement that he would station nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Despite Western warnings, Putin wants to implement his plan.

“They want Europeans to be scared so they cut aid to Ukraine.

And it is a warning to Ukraine,” former defense expert Pavel Luzin told

Radio Free Europe (RFE).

Also see

Experts an attempt to "blackmail" the West and NATO and to "split" Western politics.

Putin stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus: Experts speak of "blackmail" and "attempted division"

Luzin believes that Putin deliberately wants to antagonize the western allies in the Ukraine war.

"Russia is now trying to imitate America's nuclear-sharing policy to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States," Luzin said.

Pavel Podvig from the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva points out to

RFE

that it is a political motive "to demonstrate the strengthening of the political union between Belarus and Russia."

According to the security researcher Marine Henke, by stationing the nuclear weapons in Belarus, Putin wants to "increase the bargaining chip for future peace negotiations with Ukraine".

"Putin apparently calculates that he can persuade the Ukrainian side to negotiate better terms if he offers to take back the tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus," the expert said in an interview with the editorial network

Germany (RND

).

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Russia's President Putin (r) next to the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko (archive photo from 2019)

© Sergei Chirikov/POOL EPA/AP/dpa

Putin's plans for nuclear weapons in Belarus are not doing Lukashenko any favors

Belarus' head of state Alexander Lukashenko should not benefit from Putin's nuclear plans.

"In the eyes of the Belarusian public, this is an unpopular step," stressed political scientist Artyom Schraibman in an interview with

RFE.

"

According to polls, in the summer of 2022, 80 percent of Belarusians were against the stationing of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.

So domestically this is a problem for Lukashenko.”

So far, he has been able to position himself as a guarantor of peace and security for many Belarusians, says Schraibman.

That's going to be more difficult now.

According to CNN, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said Russia's deployment of tactical nuclear weapons "grossly contradicted the will of the Belarusian people."

If Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has his way, Lukashenko has to fear a coup by Belarusian nationalists anyway.

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After announcement of nuclear weapons in Belarus: West sharply criticizes Putin

The West has already reacted to Putin's nuclear plans in Belarus and strongly condemned them.

The Foreign Office in Berlin spoke of a "further attempt at nuclear intimidation".

It went on to say: "President Putin's comparison to NATO's nuclear participation is misleading and cannot serve to justify the step announced by Russia." In addition, Belarus has made several international statements to be free of nuclear weapons.

NATO stated that the alliance saw no need for action with regard to its own nuclear weapons.

However, one is vigilant and is monitoring the situation closely, said a spokeswoman.

Putin has rejected previous criticism of his nuclear plans in Belarus.

"There's nothing unusual here either," he said.

“First, the United States has been doing this for decades.

They have long stationed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he told Russian state TV.

Russia will begin training crews to operate the weapons next week.

Construction of a tactical nuclear weapons storage facility in Belarus will be completed by July 1.

(bohy)

List of rubrics: © Sergei Chirikov/POOL EPA/AP/dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-03-30

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