Lukashenko: Threats Against Belarus Justify the Concept of Nuclear Deterrence
Belarus faces severe internal and external threats that have necessitated a change in the country's national security concept and allowed the deployment of several dozen Russian tactical nuclear weapons within its territory, announced Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday.
During the annual session of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, a body that functions in parallel with the legislature, Lukashenko also stated that the opposition plans to take control of one of the country's western districts and has sought assistance from NATO forces. Belarusian opposition leaders have dismissed these claims as ludicrous.
At the same session, Ivan Tertel, head of the Belarusian state security service (KGB), reported that drones were launched against Minsk from NATO member Lithuania, but the attacks were thwarted by the service. Lithuania, on the other hand, has denied that such incidents ever took place.
Tertel also mentioned that Belarusian security agencies are daily preventing the smuggling of weapons into Belarus from Ukraine, intended for "terrorist attacks and sabotage."
According to Lukashenko, the current realities necessitate a change in the country's defense doctrine to include a new task: nuclear deterrence.
"Those pushing us in this direction should be aware of this and should rationally assess the direct consequences of their ill-considered decisions, to put it mildly," the state news agency Belta quoted the president as saying.