Moscow took Minsk as a “nuclear hostage” after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, the Ukrainian government said yesterday, as it blasted a plan that would bring the arms to a country at the gates of the EU.
Putin, who has issued thinly veiled warnings that Russia could use nuclear weapons if threatened, said the move was similar to the US transferring weapons to allies.
“The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov wrote on Twitter.
Photo: AP
He added that the move was “a step towards the internal destabilization of the country.”
On Saturday, Putin announced Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons to neighbor and ally Belarus “without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak accused the Russian leader of breaching such obligations.
Putin “admits that he is afraid of losing and all he can do is scare” people, Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for almost 30 years, is a key Putin ally.
In February last year, Minsk allowed the Kremlin to launch its invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory.
Fears have since risen that Belarus might join its ally’s offensive, but Lukashenko said he would do so “only if attacked.”
In an interview broadcast on Saturday, Putin said the move to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was “nothing unusual.”
“The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies,” Putin said.
Putin said he spoke to Lukashenko, adding that they agreed “to do the same.”
Russia would start training crews on Monday next week and is planning to finish the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons by July 1, he said.
Putin has previously said that nuclear tensions were “rising” globally, but that Moscow would not deploy first.
He said renewed discussions with Lukashenko on the issue were spurred by a British official’s suggestion to send depleted uranium weapons to Ukraine.
Russia would respond if the West supplied Ukraine with such ammunition, he added.
“Russia of course has what it needs to answer. Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands of such shells. We have not used them yet,” Putin said.
He said depleted uranium weapons “can be classified as the most harmful and hazardous for humans ... and also for the environment.”
Depleted uranium munitions are highly effective at piercing armor plate, but the metal is toxic for the soldiers who use them and civilians in areas where they are fired.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique