Belarus threatens to use nuclear weapons if "independence" is threatened

Belarus' Chief of General Staff Pavel Muraveyka has threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons "if the country's sovereignty and independence are threatened".

Source: Muraveyka on ONT TV, as reported by Belarusian state agency BelTA

Quote: "One of the final arguments and points that act as a deterrent is the return of non-strategic nuclear weapons to our country.

We have been trained how to handle these weapons. We can use them with confidence. We are capable of doing it. And have no doubt: we will use them if the sovereignty and independence of our country are threatened."

Details: Muraveyka stated that in a few days’ time Belarus will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and claimed that Poland wishes to prevent this, "or at least to throw a spoonful of tar into the jar of honey that has been built today".

He also accused Poland of inciting a situation at the Belarusian-Polish border, through which illegal migrants enter Poland from Belarus.

Background: 

• On 20 June, after Belarus' State Border Committee reported that it was seeing an increase in the number of Ukrainian troops on the border, Ukraine’s border guards emphasised that the country's defence forces were protecting sovereign territory from the aggressor and there was no provocation in doing so.
• On 29 June, the Armed Forces of Belarus reported that Western countries were trying to draw the country into the war, and claimed that Ukraine was mobilising troops, weaponry and military equipment near the Belarusian border.
• In response, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service (SBGS) stressed once again that any actions by the Ukrainian defence forces on the border with Belarus are solely aimed at protecting Ukraine from aggressive actions and are not intended to encroach on the territories of other states.

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