At the beginning of his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a televised interview yesterday that “in the coming months, we will deliver to Belarus missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.”
Putin has repeatedly referred to the nuclear threat since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, threats that the West interpreted as a message on its part not to intervene in the war. Belarusian President Lukashenko said last month that his country had already purchased nuclear-capable missiles from Russia, as well as S-400 anti-aircraft systems.
In addition, during the joint meeting, Lukashenko expressed concern about the “aggressive” policies of its neighbors Lithuania and Poland, and asked Putin to help Belarus produce a “symmetrical response” to what he said were NATO nuclear flights near the border with Belarus.
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The alarming development takes place on the eve of the meeting of the leaders of the G7 countries in Germany today (Sunday), a meeting that is supposed to deal with Ukraine and its far-reaching consequences of the war on its soil, from the risk of a global food crisis to the energy crisis.
G7 leaders are expected to show a united support front in Ukraine and increase pressure on the Kremlin – despite their desire to avoid imposing sanctions that could exacerbate inflation and the global cost of living crisis. German Chancellor Olaf Schultz said that “beyond the message that NATO and the G7 are united today more than ever, the summit should send another message that democracies around the world oppose Putin’s imperialist aspirations just as much as they fight hunger and poverty around the world.” said.