The statements made by Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas about nuclear threats from Belarus in the course of his recent visit to Washington are baseless and simply absurd.
Russian tactical nuclear weapons are planned to be deployed on the territory of the Republic of Belarus exclusively for defensive purposes - to protect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of our country, as well as in the interests of ensuring the military security of the Union State as a whole.
Announcing the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin emphasized that international obligations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons will not be violated. And this is true: Russian nuclear weapons or control over them are not transferred to the Belarusian side, so there is no need to talk about a violation of the provisions of the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
As for Anušauskas regret about the insufficiently serious political reaction of the international community to the preparations for the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, the Lithuanian Defense Minister should be reminded of his own comment on this issue dated March 26 this year, in which he addressed Western politicians with the words "do not be distracted by this."
Apparently, such a dramatic change in the position of the Lithuanian minister regarding the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus, as well as all the rhetoric about imaginary military threats to the Baltic States from Russia and Belarus, are connected solely with the approach of the date of the next NATO summit in Vilnius, on which Lithuania places special hopes, including in terms of further militarization of the Baltic region.
Specially for BelTA