If Russia deploys Oreshnik missile in Belarus, Ukraine will have official right to restore nuclear weapons — political expert

Political scientist Volodymyr Tsybulko explained that if nuclear weapons are deployed in Belarus, the Budapest Memorandum can be considered inoperative, and Ukraine will have the right to restore its nuclear status.

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

“A few days ago was the anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum. I am frankly surprised why the Ukrainian authorities did not turn this anniversary into a huge discussion platform on all well-known world panels. After all, it was the Budapest Memorandum that guaranteed the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” explained Tsybulko.

Read also How many Oreshnik missiles can Russia produce per year? Expert explains

The political scientist noted that Ukraine will have every right to restore its nuclear status if Russian nuclear weapons are deployed in Belarus.

“It is important to explain why I started with the Budapest Memorandum. In addition to Ukraine, the memorandum includes Belarus and Kazakhstan. So during this war, there were many reports from Russia about the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus. Now they want to deploy a nuclear missile carrier on the territory of Belarus, as there are still some launch pits there. Therefore, if Lukashenko is now saying that he should be given access to launch such missiles, it would mean that Belarus automatically withdraws from the Budapest Memorandum and that this agreement has already completely ceased to be in force. In this scenario, Ukraine officially has the right to restore nuclear weapons. However, we have never declared this and the right to restore nuclear weapons,” he added.

• On December 6, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that it was possible to deploy the Oreshnik system in Belarus. Russia attacked Dnipro with this missile on November 21.