PMC “Wagner” will not guard nuclear weapons in Belarus – Kommersant

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at the ceremony of presenting shoulder straps to the highest officers on June 27 said that a significant part of Russian nuclear weapons had been transported to the country’s territory. It will not be guarded by Wagner PMC fighters, nuclear weapons are maintained by the Russians, and the Belarusians “help” them, he explained.

“The Poles and others believe that (I asked them to give me from the media) Wagner will guard nuclear weapons and so on. Wagner will not protect any nuclear weapons. They will be guarded there, and they are guarding today, since a part of the nuclear weapons (I won’t say how many), most of them have already been brought to Belarus. It’s amazing that they didn’t trace it,” said Mr. Lukashenka (quoted from “Belta“).

According to him, nuclear weapons are maintained by the Russian and Belarusian military. “We work together. We have no such experience. Served by Russians. We help maintain these nuclear weapons,” Mr. Lukashenko said.

He stressed that information about the protection of nuclear weapons by PMC fighters is unreliable. “No Wagner will guard nuclear weapons. This is our task. And I am primarily responsible for the safety of weapons. Therefore, we will never go for it. We have enough guys who are able to guard this facility together with the Russians,” he said.

On the evening of June 24, the press service of the President of Belarus reported that Alexander Lukashenko spent negotiations with Prigogine. PMC fighters deployed columns and went to field camps, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane arrived to Belarus.

In March 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announcedthat tactical nuclear weapons will be deployed in Belarus. He stressed that Russia by its actions will not violate the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, since it will not transfer these weapons to Belarus, but will only place them under its control.

According to Vladimir Putin, by July 1, 2023, the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed. On June 9, at a meeting with the President of Belarus, Mr Putin saidthat the deployment of nuclear weapons will begin immediately after the completion of the preparation of facilities for them – July 7-8.

Polina Motyzlevskaya