Belarus calls to build international architecture with fair system of security guarantees

Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuri Ambrazevich spoke at the UN Disarmament Commission plenary session on prevention of nuclear war, BelTA learned from the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

"It is regrettable to realize that after decades of being on the agenda of the Conference, the topic of preventing nuclear war is still relevant now, in 2023. It doesn't seem all that long ago that the world watched with bated breath the Soviet Union and the United States sign the international treaties on nuclear disarmament: INF Treaty, START-1 and START-2. It has been 30 years since the last of the treaties was signed, but the world has, perhaps for the first time since the early 1960s, spiraled back to a point where the real nuclear threat is clearly visible," the deputy minister said.

"Belarus is convinced that in order to avoid nuclear war the world needs an international architecture with a fair system of security guarantees that would take into account the legitimate interests and concerns of all states, small and large, nuclear and non-nuclear, without exception," Yuri Ambrazevich continued. “The January 2022 joint statement by the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states on the prevention of nuclear war was a step in the right direction. However, we have to admit that this event was rather an exception to the negative trend of growing security erosion in Europe and the world. This trend is matched by the 20-year stagnation in the Conference on Disarmament and the almost complete paralysis of other disarmament forums and treaties."

Yuri Ambrazevich believes that the long-term disregard by some countries for the legitimate interests and concerns of other countries in the field of security was the main reason for the situation in nuclear disarmament to return back to the starting point of confrontation.

"Can Belarus feel safe and secure when the United States and the UK, that provided security assurances to Belarus under the Budapest Memorandum for its renunciation of USSR nuclear weapons, have grossly violated it and continue to violate it to this day. The United States, the UK and their NATO allies from the EU have imposed an unprecedented number of economic bans and restrictions against Belarus. They have stopped direct air communication with our country, stopped trade and transit of many goods, complicated or made financial transactions impossible," Yuri Ambrazevich said. “In the neighboring countries, NATO has been building new military formations on the borders with Belarus for several years. Poland is training militants for a violent change of power in Minsk.”

Yuri Ambrazevich noted that global news media have launched a smear campaign against Belarus. "The BBC, CNN and Euronews churn out fake news about Belarus’ using illegal migrants as a weapon against its western neighbors hammering them into people's minds.  

People flee the countries in the wake of wars and economic devastation created with the help of all-powerful democracies. They flee through Belarus to the EU for a better life, but Lithuanian and Polish border guards push them back to us, or even kill them right at the border. They accuse us of not stopping these people in their desire to get to Germany. But in recent months, some EU politicians have surpassed even these absurd and groundless speculations. Now they accuse Belarus of forcibly removing Ukrainian children from the territories located in the zone of armed conflict.

Several hundred children from Donbass have come to Belarus for organized voluntary holidays in Belarusian summer recreation camps in a forest and on a lake, with multiple meals and medical care, with chaperones and all documents. They have returned home to Donbass, which has been shown on TV in prime time. But they present this as ‘forcible illegal deportation of children from the occupied regions of Ukraine’," Yuri Ambrazevich added.

"All this is done for the sake of one goal: to destroy the alliance of Belarus and Russia, to weaken Moscow and take control of an additional 600km from West to East between NATO and Russia," he said.

“Belarus is fully aware about who and what is a threat to its security. I hope that what I’ve said was useful to those who are still wondering why Belarus supports Russia,” the deputy minister said.

He continued: “In the current conditions of the collapsing international architecture of global and European security, we have long and persistently called for the start of negotiations to determine the political and legal foundations of global security. We also advocate the development of a global legally binding agreement according to which countries with nuclear weapons will provide non-nuclear states with unambiguous and unconditional guarantees on the non-use of nuclear weapons and the prevention of the threat of their use.

Yuri Ambrazevich also mentioned the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, since this topic had become the subject of unscrupulous insinuations.

“Almost 30 years ago, Belarus, guided by a sense of deep responsibility, made a conscious choice in favor of renouncing its nuclear weapons without any conditions or reservations and acceded to the NPT as a non-nuclear state. Belarus' contribution to nuclear disarmament is obvious and undeniable, which was repeatedly confirmed in numerous bilateral and multilateral documents,” the deputy minister of foreign affairs said. “Taking into account the security concerns and national interests, our country has been taking consistent and transparent steps to develop its own defense potential. These actions are exclusively retaliatory and are aimed at strengthening the defense capabilities of Belarus.”

According to the deputy minister, cooperation between Belarus and Russia in defense capabilities and national security is of a strategic defensive nature and is carried out strictly within the framework of international law.

“We have the sovereign right to seek help from our closest ally. The deployment of tactical nuclear warheads in Belarus, if this happens, is a forced response to the challenges and risks to national security of our country. These measures are carried out in strict accordance with the NPT provisions. I also note that such cooperation is not something that Belarus and Russia have invented. It has long been practiced within NATO, both in the form of so-called joint nuclear missions and in the form of deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in five non-nuclear member countries of the Alliance in Europe,” the deputy minister said.

“Belarus, being a staunch supporter of an equal and respectful dialogue in the field of security, is always ready for constructive interaction aimed at de-escalating tensions, restoring trust and strengthening multilateral non-proliferation and arms control mechanisms, including in the nuclear sector,” Yuri Ambrazevich said.