Ukraine: Belarus to host Russian nuclear weapons in response to Western 'pressure'

Europe 1 with AFP 11:20 am, March 28, 2023, modified at 11:21 am, March 28, 2023

THE ESSENTIALS

Belarus will host Russian "tactical" nuclear weapons in response to "unprecedented" Western "pressure," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. "Belarus has been facing pressure for two and a half years ... unprecedented on the part of the United States, Britain and their allies," said Belarusian diplomacy, denouncing "direct and gross interference" in Minsk's internal affairs.

The economic and political sanctions against this former Soviet republic allied with Russia are accompanied by the "strengthening of NATO's military potential" on the territory of the member countries of the Alliance neighboring Belarus, she continued. In this context, Belarus is "forced to take retaliatory measures", insisted Belarusian diplomacy, while assuring that Minsk will not have control over these weapons and that their deployment "does not contradict in any way Articles I and II of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had had the agreement of Minsk to deploy "tactical" nuclear weapons in Belarus, a country located on the doorstep of the EU and led since 1994 by Alexander Lukashenko, his closest ally. According to the Russian president, preparations for this deployment are to begin as early as next month.

Moscow announces anti-ship missile tests in the Sea of Japan

The Russian Navy has conducted anti-ship missile tests on a dummy target in the Sea of Japan, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The Russian Pacific Fleet exercises come a week after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Ukraine.

"In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile ships of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a dummy enemy naval target," the ministry said on Telegram. Two ships participated, according to him, in this exercise.

"The target, located at a distance of a hundred kilometers, was successfully hit by a direct fire of two Moskit cruise missiles," the ministry added, adding that its naval air forces had monitored "the security of the combat exercise."

"War economy": an MP recommends "mobilizing the savings of the French"

The financing of a "war economy" aimed at increasing the production capacities of the French defense industry requires a "mobilization of the savings of the French", recommends a parliamentary report published at the time of a meeting at the Elysee on the subject.

It is necessary to "mobilize the savings of the French for the benefit of the defense industry, via the creation of a booklet or a regulated savings plan or through a state bond," suggests the deputy Horizons of Charente-Maritime Christophe Plassard at the end of a "flash" mission.

His report is to be examined Wednesday by the Finance Committee, the day after a meeting around Emmanuel Macron of defense industrialists to take stock of the transition to a "war economy" called for by the head of state.

If there is a "change in mentalities related to the war in Ukraine", "the lack of access of small businesses to private financing remains a major obstacle" to their rise, notes Christophe Plassard.

The first British Challenger tanks arrived in Ukraine

The first British Challenger tanks have arrived in Ukraine, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced late Monday, new Western military equipment to help Kiev repel the Russian invasion. Oleksiy Reznikov said that "British Challengers, American Strykers and Cougars and German Marders" had been "added to the Ukrainian units".

The minister posted a photo of these vehicles, in his Facebook post, without saying exactly when they had arrived. Ukrainian ministry spokeswoman Iryna Zolotar confirmed to AFP that the Challenger tanks "were already in Ukraine", without giving the exact number at this stage.

Ukrainian soldiers have completed their training in the United Kingdom to learn how to handle the 14 Challenger 2 tanks supplied by London to Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, the British Ministry of Defence announced earlier Monday.

Their training began shortly after the announcement in early January of the supply of these tanks by the United Kingdom. "The United Kingdom is sending the Challenger 2 tanks, which will soon be in the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces," the British ministry said in a statement.