Ukraine’s response comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would install strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus.
C. Rubini CTC, Vatican News
A key adviser to the Ukrainian president said on Sunday that the move comes as Moscow realizes it will eventually lose its occupation of Ukraine.
Russian President Putin has stated that Moscow will deploy strategic nuclear weapons in neighboring and ally Belarus in the coming months. Putin did not specify whether they would be transferred to Belarus, which shares borders not only with Ukraine but also with three NATO military alliance members, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. However, the Russian leader announced that Moscow would complete construction of a warehouse there by July 1.
The United States tried to play down the significance of the developments, saying Russia and Belarus had been talking about such an agreement last year and that Moscow had no plans to use nuclear weapons. However, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s deputy secretary of the Security Council and the country’s former president, warned last week that continued Western support for Ukraine was bringing a nuclear catastrophe closer.
He added that Russia’s “relations with the West are worse than they have ever been in history.” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podoliak has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of violating the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, a charge Putin has denied.
Scare tactics
Podoliak said on the social media site Twitter that Putin was resorting to “scare” tactics. He added that by making a statement about deploying strategic nuclear weapons to Belarus, Putin is acknowledging Russia’s fear of losing its continued occupation of Ukraine. Fierce fighting between Russia and Ukrainian forces continues around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, military observers say.
Ukrainian soldier Roman is among those fighting in hiding in Bakhmut’s World War I-like trenches. “Today, I lost a few comrades. I also destroyed a few attackers,” he said amid the sounds of explosions nearby.
“I get very emotional when I think about my future life,” he added, amidst the near constant falling of shells. “Life is wonderful, friends, it’s true,” he said in a video message posted on social media. “If I survive here, my life will be more precious than before because I am sure that life is a great gift,” he added. The war is still far from over, with thousands of soldiers known to have died on both sides.