ICAN condemns the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus

March 26 () –

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has condemned the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus as an “extremely dangerous escalation” that could facilitate their use.

“Condemning all threats from nuclear weapons is of paramount importance at this time. The (Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty) NPT is the most effective way for any government to do this and raise the threshold for use. Parking, as Russia intends to do in Belarus, it is completely unacceptable,” ICAN’s acting executive director Daniel Högsta posted on Twitter.

In addition, the organization has stressed that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons prohibits hosting this type of weapon in other countries.

ICAN also fears that a misinterpretation of a specific situation could lead to something “much worse” and with “catastrophic” humanitarian risks, as it ensures that there is no response mechanism capable of dealing with it.

This condemnation comes after Putin announced an agreement with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, which includes a deployment of tactical nuclear weapons “without violating the non-proliferation regime”, in response to the British announcement of the supply of depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine.