Russia must defend Belarus in case of aggression – Łukašenka

April 10, BPN. Russia must defend Belarus as its own territory in case of aggression against it, Alaksandr Łukašenka has told Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at their April 10 meeting in Minsk.

The West violated the Budapest Memorandum that provides security assurances for giving up nuclear weapons, he said.

“Of course, you know that the Western states have trampled all these treaties, agreements and statements, and there is no security,” Łukašenka’s press office quoted him as saying. “What kind of economic security is there if they impose sanctions against us, Russia?”

“What security guarantees can America give us?” he said. “None, except for encouraging aggression against us, as we see now. We need full security guarantees from our brotherly Russia.”

Vladimir Putin suggested revising treaties and agreements between Belarus and Russia to ensure the full security of Belarus, he added.

On March 25, Putin announced that the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would be completed by July 1. The West and Belarusian democratic forces denounced this plan, while China opposed using nuclear weapons or fighting nuclear wars.

Russia said its nuclear arsenal in Belarus will be controlled by Moscow, while Łukašenka suggested that “everything there is in Belarus will be managed by us here.”

Moscow’s envoy to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, said the storage facility for Russian nuclear weapons would be built near the Russian-Belarusian union’s western border.

Russia’s nuclear plans in Belarus are unlikely to affect the combat operations in Ukraine and the risk of nuclear escalation remains extremely low, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its recent report.