Lukashenko will turn Belarusians into hostages by hosting tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus - political scientist Mahda

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

The political scientist commented on the address to the Belarusian people by self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on March 31.

"Lukashenko is covering up the indisputable fact that he has turned millions of Belarusian citizens into potential hostages. After the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons there, it is quite obvious that NATO countries will make efforts to reorient their capabilities for a preventive or retaliatory strike against those military facilities that are currently located in Belarus. And this will be done as clearly and quickly as possible. In my opinion, the situation for Lukashenko is not very good, because back in 2020, speaking about Belarus, he said that one does not betray one's beloved. But he betrayed it, exposing it to a potential attack from the very same, as they say in the Soviet ideology, aggressive NATO bloc. We need to understand that Lukashenko set Belarusians up," emphasized the Executive Director of the Institute of World Policy.

Yevhen Mahda noted that the tragedy of the situation lies in the fact that many Belarusians are technically unable to leave the territory of Belarus quickly because the system is built in such a way.

"In fact, this is a very sad situation, because Putin will be behind Lukashenko. It is difficult to know and understand what is in Putin's mind, but we cannot rule out a strike or a deployment that will resemble World War III. The Ukrainian government should not wait for Lukashenko to return to normal relations, but should create conditions for Lukashenko to be the object of pressure, and for this it is necessary to talk to various democratic Belarusian forces," Mahda said.

• On March 25, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that a storage facility for Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be completed in Belarus by July 1.

• On March 31, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko declared his readiness to accept strategic nuclear weapons from Russia, if necessary.