If NATO countries decide to attack Belarus, Minsk will use nuclear weapons that have been deployed in the country under an agreement with Russia, stated the president of the republic, Alexander Lukashenko.
'As soon as they attack us [...], we will use nuclear weapons. And Russia will get involved for us,' said Lukashenko (quote from BelTA). He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his recent speech about changing the nuclear doctrine, confirmed that Belarus could use nuclear weapons for its defense.
According to him, Polish and American troops are already positioned along the border with Belarus, and the authorities in Poland are 'rubbing their hands' and waiting for the moment to attack. At the same time, Lukashenko warned that if Belarus uses nuclear weapons, there will be a response, including against Russia.
'Therefore, Russia will use its entire [nuclear] arsenal. And that would already be a world war. Neither the West wants this nor are they ready for it. But we openly tell them: the red line is the state border. If they cross it, the response will be immediate,' emphasized the president of Belarus.
After the collapse of the USSR, Belarus renounced its nuclear arsenal and joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1993 as a non-nuclear state. All nuclear weapons were completely removed from the republic by November 1996.
However, in March 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, explaining this by the American policy of placing similar weapons in European countries. The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the republic in mid-June of the same year.
By the beginning of summer 2024, Belarusian military personnel had completed a training cycle on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.
