Ukraine demands emergency UN meeting over Russian nuclear weapons plan for Belarus

Name: Ukraine calls for emergency UN meeting as Putin says Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus
Uploaded: 2023-03-26T17:10:06.000Z
Duration: 3 min 15 s
Description: Ukraine calls for emergency UN meeting as Putin says Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russia’s plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus is in response to the West’s increasing military support for Ukraine

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry condemned Russia’s move and demanded an emergency UN Security Council meeting

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Ukraine calls for emergency UN meeting as Putin says Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

Associated Press

Published: 1:10am, 27 Mar 2023Updated: 3:33pm, 27 Mar 2023

Ukraine’s government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail” after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus.

One Ukrainian official said that Russia “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage”.

Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175km (110 miles) south of Moscow.

Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the West’s increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a television interview that was broadcast on Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

“We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews,” Putin said.