WORLD is”closer than ever” to a nuclear apocalypse, Russia’s close ally Belarus warned in a chilling speech at the UN.
It comes as Moscow plans to deploy its Oreshnik ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in Minsk, which shares borders with three Nato countries.
EPA‘Yars’ intercontinental ballistic missile launches at Plesetsk Cosmodrome during training to test the Russian strategic deterrence[/caption]
AFPBelarus’ Minister for Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2024[/caption]
Oreshnik hypersonic super-weapon attacking a defence plant in Dnipro, Ukraine on 21 November 2024East2West
Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Belarus’ Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov warned at the United Nations that the world has once again returned to a point where the nuclear threat is “clearly visible”.
He said: “The Doomsday Clock shows less than one and a half minutes to midnight, symbolising the moment of nuclear apocalypse.
“This is the closest the clock has ever been to midnight.”
He blamed the West for re-arming against Russia, claiming this posed a threat to Belarus, a state economically dependent on Putin where repression, torture and vote-rigging are routine.
But Belarus now has weapons of “monstrous destructive power”, Ryzhenkov boasted.
He said: “The West has quietly begun to re-arm, and today they’re even laying mines on our borders in Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
“Belarus was forced to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons to guarantee its security.
“Russian Oreshnik ballistic missiles will be deployed on Belarusian territory for the same purpose.
“The agreement on security guarantees….signed last year between Belarus and Russia provides for the use of any type of weapon, including nuclear weapons, for defence.”
Moscow is Belarus’s closest ally, with the two countries strengthening their military cooperation throughout the Kremlin‘s offensive in Ukraine.
Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for more than 30 years – and has relied on Russian subsidies and support – allowed Russia to use his country’s territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Moving the nuclear weapon in Minsk means Ukraine and the West could be hit far quicker than from launches deep inside Russia.
A secret military base is being built near Pavlovka village, south of Minsk, to house the weapon close to Nato borders.
Landlocked Belarus shares borders with three Nato states – Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – as well as Ukraine and Russia.
GettyRussian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko enter the hall during the Supreme Council of Russia and Belarus on December 6, 2024[/caption]
Russia had already deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus in 2023.
Tactical nuclear weapons, designed for use on the battlefield, are smaller than the strategic nuclear weapons used to wipe out whole cities but are still extremely destructive.
Belarus also has Russian Iskander-M short-range nuclear missiles on its territory, a system Putin recently positioned close to the Polish border in the Kaliningrad region.
The dictator revealed he blasted Ukraine with a new kind of ballistic missile that hurtled down from the edge of space in a “depraved” act of nuclear brinkmanship.
It was a direct response to Ukraine’s use of US-made ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles.
Experts believe the new missile flies at 10 times the speed of sound and may be able to strike targets up to 5,500 kilometres (3,400 miles) away.
Putin has also vowed to massively increase his chilling arsenal of Oreshnik missiles.