MINSK, 1 July (BelTA) – Oreshnik missile systems will be deployed in Belarus by the end of the year. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement during a solemn assembly held on 1 July in anticipation of Independence Day, BelTA has learned.
The head of state noted that he understands the people, who say that the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus had made the country a target. However, the president is convinced that this idea had been enforced from the outside. The history has yet to see an attack on a country that has nuclear weapons. And nobody is intent on initiating such conflicts nowadays.
“And I didn’t do it in order to toy with it and amuse you. As the president and the commander-in-chief I don’t want someone to attack my country like it happened in the past. And I plainly told representatives of the United States of America: nuclear weapons stay quiet and calm, they are protected as they are supposed to but God forbid if you step onto our soil without our knowledge. The answer will be instant, instantaneous and with the weapon that you are afraid of the most. Do you understand it? They said they did,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“In [the Russian city of] Volgograd the ‘elder brother’, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and I agreed that the first Oreshnik [missile system] positions will be in Belarus. You have seen Oreshnik’s work. These missiles can deliver as much damage as nuclear weapons. Only without polluting the territory and the air with radiation. By the end of the year the weapon will be deployed in Belarus,” the head of state stated. “Then nobody will have to be afraid that Belarus has nuclear weapons and is ready to carry out a strike. Naturally, the strike will not use the nukes. It will be so as long as I am the president. If you elect another, you may follow a different policy. But I will do everything in order to have state-of-the-art weapons here. I understand that neither missiles nor drones decide the fate in a war and at a battlefront. Soldiers and their commanding officers are our key force. With assault rifles, grenade launchers and other kinds of weapons. Particularly in our territory.”
According to the president, in a forested and swampy terrain the efficiency of drones will not be as high as it is in Ukraine. Nevertheless, Belarus makes such weapons, including together with Russia. “We are developing this branch of the military service. We see how it is used in the war. But we shouldn’t forget ourselves and rush into extremes,” he stressed.
Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked Russia for assistance with deploying serious kinds of weapons in Belarus. “I am convinced that our supporters, who don’t understand it, will come to realize it soon and without a war. This is why Oreshnik will be deployed in Belarus. In order to prevent riots,” the head of state summarized.
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