The Growing Nuclear Threat from Russia: Implications for Global Security

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Russia might deploy strategic nuclear weapons to Belarus along with part of Russia's tactical nuclear arsenal. Lukashenko said that he ordered his military to immediately put the former base for Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles in order to make it ready for use. Belarus was a staging ground for Russian troops to launch their invasion of Ukraine a little over 13 months ago. Lukashenko called for a cease-fire in Ukraine and said that he did not want to lose his country's nuclear weapons but was pressured into doing so by then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin.