Russia confirms deployment of nuclear warheads in Belarus

MOSCOW (AFP): President Vladimir Putin on Friday confirmed Russia had sent nuclear arms to its ally Belarus which borders Ukraine.

“The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus… This is the first part,” Putin told an annual economic forum, where AFP and media of other countries Russia deems “unfriendly” were not accredited.

The Russian leader had announced the plans to send tactical nuclear weapons — less powerful than strategic ones — in March.

“By the end of summer, the end of the year, we will complete the process,” of transferring tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, Putin said.

Tactical nuclear arms are battlefield weapons that, while devastating, have a smaller yield compared to long-range strategic weapons.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has allowed his territory — which borders Ukraine as well as EU and NA members Poland and Lithuania — to serve as a launch pad for Russia’s Ukraine offensive.

Putin’s announcement had spurred fears of nuclear conflict, but experts and governments said it was unlikely it would change the course of the conflict.

Putin said the weapons were meant as deterrence to “those who are thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia”.

Belarusian troops began training on nuclear-capable Russian missile systems in April.

End of ugly neo-colonialism

President Putin proclaimed the end of “neo-colonialism” in international politics and praised Russia’s economic strategy following its ruptured ties with the West.

The Russian leader addressed an annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg, a shadow of its former self since Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022 and the West pummelled Russia with unprecedented sanctions.

“The ugly neo-colonial system of international relations has ceased to exist, while the multi-polar global order is strengthening,” Putin said. “This is inevitable.”

Putin has repeatedly denounced the dominance of the United States in international politics and sought to present Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine as a battle against the decadent West.

He accused Western countries of refusing dialogue with Russia and suggested that the West would like to hold talks in the future.

“And we will see at what point and what we can talk with them about,” Putin said.

Speaking about Russia’s economy, he admitted that the second quarter of last year had been “the most difficult” as the West punished Russia with unprecedented sanctions.

“Today we can confidently say: the strategy chosen at the time by both the state and Russian business worked,” he added.

He also claimed that around half of Russians who had left the country after the start of the offensive in Ukraine had already come back.

“This process is continuing, but if someone wants to live in another place — suit yourself,” Putin said.

Many Russians now lived in the United Arab Emirates as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, he added.

“I don’t see anything wrong here, let people live where they see fit.”

The slogan of this year’s forum was “The sovereign development is the foundation of a just world”, the Kremlin said.

AFP and representatives of other countries the Kremlin deems “unfriendly” were not accredited to cover the forum.

US says ‘no reason’ to change posture

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday the military had not changed its nuclear posture in response to President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Russia had placed nuclear arms in Belarus.

“We have no reason to adjust our own nuclear posture. We don’t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” Blinken said.

Blinken called it “ironic” that Putin is putting Russian nuclear arms in Belarus when Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine as an action to prevent Kyiv from obtaining such weapons.

He also criticized Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko for accepting the weapons from Moscow.

“This is just another example of Lukashenko making irresponsible, provocative choices to cede control of Belarus’s sovereignty against the will of the Belarussian people,” he said.

Zelensky rules out talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out the possibility of talks with Russia on Friday after a visiting delegation of African leaders urged both countries to de-escalate.

The diplomatic team came to Kyiv to voice the concerns of a continent that has suffered from the fallout of Russia’s invasion — in particular from rising grain prices — with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa insisting “there should be peace through negotiations”.

But Zelensky rejected that possibility during a joint press conference, telling reporters: “I clearly said several times at our meeting that to allow any negotiations with Russia now that the occupier is on our land is to freeze the war, to freeze pain and suffering”.

Shortly after the African leaders’ arrival, air raid sirens sounded across the country as Russian missiles were detected, forcing the delegates to take shelter in the capital.

Zelensky said the strike on Kyiv during the delegation’s visit was evidence that Putin either did not control his army, or was “irrational”.

Ramaphosa, however, took the barrage as evidence that both sides needed to stop fighting.

“It is precisely that type of event that we saw today… that makes us call for de-escalation,” Ramaphosa said, quoting Nelson Mandela several times on the need for peace.

In a statement, Zelensky said he had called on the leaders to set out their views on how to stop the “crimes committed by Russia”, and how to work towards food security.

“But first of all, we must restore the full force of the UN Charter and stop this brutal Russian aggression and free our land,” he added.

The African delegation had gone first to Bucha, a town outside the capital that has become synonymous with alleged war crimes carried out by Moscow.

The group includes four presidents: Ramaphosa, Senegal’s Macky Sall, Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema and Comoros’ Azali Assoumani, who also currently heads the African Union.

The leaders of Uganda, Egypt and Congo-Brazzaville pulled out of the visit at the last moment and sent representatives instead.

The talks came as Ukraine announced gains in a new counteroffensive, but Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his claim that Kyiv’s forces “stand no chance” in the sectors where fighting has intensified.

– ‘Clear message’ –

Following Friday’s attack on Kyiv, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down 12 missiles, including six hypersonic ones.

There was no reported damage inside the city, but seven people including two children were wounded, the regional police said.

“With what happened today, it’s very obvious also to the African leaders how sincere Putin is about stopping the conflict,” said Peter Stano, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Ukrainian officials were also quick to call attention to the strike.

“Russian missiles are a message to Africa: Russia wants more war, not peace,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

The African leaders were set to travel on to the northwestern Russian city of Saint Petersburg and meet Putin on Saturday.

“In our view it is important to listen very carefully to what both countries have to say, and tomorrow we are now going to listen to President Putin,” Ramaphosa said.

Speaking at an annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg on Friday, Putin displayed little appetite for peace talks, announcing the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus while also calling Zelensky a “disgrace to the Jewish people”.

Russia first announced plans to station tactical nukes in its ally and neighbour in March, with Putin saying Friday that the “first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus”.

He said the weapons were meant as a deterrence to “those who are thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia”.

Putin also told forum attendees he had “a lot of Jewish friends” who had told him “that Zelensky is not Jewish, that he is a disgrace to the Jewish people”.

Despite Zelensky’s Jewish heritage, Moscow has justified its war with claims it needs to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

– ‘Touching livelihoods’ –

Analysts, meanwhile, said the delegation’s mediating effort could hope to win some concessions from the Kremlin ahead of a Russia-Africa summit next month.

The African continent has been badly hit by rising grain and fertiliser prices as well as the wider impact on global trade since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

“This conflict is also affecting African countries negatively, touching on the livelihoods of 1.2 or 1.3 billion people on the African continent,” Ramaphosa said.

African nations have been divided over their response to the war, with some siding with Ukraine and others remaining neutral or gravitating towards Moscow.

South Africa, for one, has drawn scrutiny for refusing to condemn the offensive launched by Moscow.