The Belarusian Foreign Ministry is taking forced measures to ensure security against the backdrop of building up NATO’s potential in neighboring countries. On Tuesday, March 28, reports press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country.
The department emphasizes that the measures are aimed at strengthening the country’s own security and defense capability, referring to the military cooperation between Belarus and Russia, which, according to diplomats, is carried out in strict accordance with international law.
“The training of Belarusian pilots capable of flying aircraft with specific ammunition, the modernization of such aircraft, as well as the deployment of nuclear warheads on the territory of Belarus without transferring control over them to Minsk, as well as access to appropriate technologies, in no way contradict the provisions of Articles I and II of the Treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,” the ministry’s website said in a statement.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry emphasizes that such relations “are not an innovation in the field of military cooperation between non-nuclear and nuclear powers” and cite NATO as an example, where “the practice of “joint nuclear missions” has long existed.”
“The aircraft of the Alliance member countries are certified for flights with nuclear weapons, the flight personnel are being trained for such “missions”, and appropriate exercises are being conducted. More than 150 US tactical nuclear weapons are stored on the territory of European NATO member countries, more than 250 aircraft have been prepared for their possible use, ”the authors of the text list.
The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that over the past two and a half years the republic (Belarus) has been subjected to unprecedented political, economic and informational pressure from the United States, Great Britain and their NATO allies, as well as member states of the European Union.
“This direct and gross interference in the internal affairs of an independent state, aimed at changing the geopolitical course and changing the internal political system of Belarus, directly contradicts the obligations assumed by individual signatories of the Memorandum on Security Guarantees in connection with the accession of the Republic to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) ”, Belarusian diplomats say.
In their opinion, unilateral coercive measures in politics and the economy are also accompanied by an increase in military potential on the territory of neighboring NATO member countries, namely in the immediate vicinity of the borders of Belarus.
“The Belarusian side is convinced that the confrontational rhetoric and the unfolding spiral of the arms race should be replaced by a constructive and mutually respectful dialogue aimed at strengthening the architecture of global and regional security, multilateral mechanisms for disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, including in the nuclear sphere. We called for this and continue to call on all our partners,” summed up the specialists of the country’s foreign ministry.
Earlier, on March 24, the Kremlin pointed to direct US interference in the affairs of Belarus. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, this requires special attention from the Belarusian side, but Russia cannot remain indifferent.
Prior to that, on March 22, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Washington was interested in dialogue with the Belarusian opposition, for which he plans to appoint a special envoy. He indicated that the United States is actively exploring the possibility of moving this issue forward, but no dates or names have yet been released.
On September 20, the Belarusian leader said that the plans of the West to turn Belarus into a kind of Ukraine would not come true. He noted that the fugitives and their relatives first lay low and rested, but now they are again setting up businesses, intending to save up money and make a fuss in their native country. As Lukashenka added, the opposition intends to “tear off Belarus” and join the country to NATO.
In October 2022, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting on military security in Minsk that the Belarusian oppositionists who are abroad do not leave hopes of destabilizing the situation in the republic.
After the presidential elections held in Belarus on August 9, 2020, which were won for the sixth time by Alexander Lukashenko, who, according to the Central Election Commission of the republic, won 80.1% of the votes, mass opposition protests began in the country. The voting results were not recognized by the US and EU countries.
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