“We have a lot of ammunition, first of all rockets,” Lukashenko said during the visit to the car factory in the Minsk region.
A fragment of his speech to the company’s employees was published by the Telegram channel “Pul Pervoho”, which has close ties with the press service of the President of Belarus.
“I have to thank the Russians: they helped us a lot last year. I’m not talking here [ainult] of nuclear weapons, which will solve everything… systems like Iskander, we received their financing from the Russians, we pay for them with other bills,” the Belarusian leader said.
He stressed that the use of these weapons requires strict compliance with protocol and approval from senior officials.
«[See on] a particularly dangerous weapon… I signed a regulation on how to use these weapons. It can only be implemented with the approval of the President. The Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff are involved. Each has its own functions… nuclear weapons are even more difficult to use,” Lukashenko said.
In March 2023, Lukashenko described the tactical nuclear missiles offered by Vladimir Putin as national or so-called proprietary assets, stressing that they contribute to Belarus’ sovereignty and freedom.
He also revealed plans to restore sites for nuclear-tipped missiles, saying Belarus could acquire strategic nuclear weapons if necessary.
“We will stop at nothing to protect our countries, our people,” Lukashenko said last March.
On January 16, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Hrenin announced that Minsk was changing its military doctrine to allow the use of nuclear weapons; just a few months after Russian nuclear weapons were first deployed there.
“We clearly express our point of view on the use of tactical nuclear weapons located on our territory,” Hrenin said at the Security Council meeting in Minsk on Tuesday. “A new chapter has appeared in which we clearly define our obligations to our allies.”
Last May, Moscow and Minsk signed an agreement allowing Russia to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. If in June Putin said that deliveries had begun, in December Lukashenko confirmed that deliveries would end in October. It was the first time that nuclear weapons had been deployed outside Russia’s borders. It is unclear how many weapons are located in Belarus.
2024-01-20 14:50:00
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