After an alleged referendum, Belarus will give up its nuclear-weapon-free line, and allow Russia to place nuclear weapons on its territory.
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According to the Kyiv Independent, 65.16 percent of the population allegedly voted for the changes in the constitution that allow dictator Alexander Lukashenko to allow Russia to place nuclear weapons in Belarus.
The vote led to demonstrations in several cities, and at least 290 people have been arrested, human rights activists told Reuters.
“If you in the West transfer nuclear weapons to Poland or Lithuania, to our borders, then I will turn to Putin for him to return the nuclear weapons I handed over without preconditions,” Lukashenko said on Sunday.
–Column on the way to Kyiv
On Sunday night, new satellite images showed a five-kilometer-long column of ground forces on their way to Kyiv.
According to Reuters, should the column of fuel and tanks be about 60 kilometers from the capital at 20.45 Sunday night.
It happened on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened nuclear weapons. In a speech on Sunday, he announced that he had ordered the Minister of Defense and the General Staff to put the nuclear weapons forces in “combat readiness”.
The background is what Putin describes as unfriendly actions from Western countries, and “aggressive statements” by officials in leading NATO countries.
In a telephone conversation with the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson late Sunday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said that he believes the next 24 hours will be crucial for Ukraine, the British authorities report in a press release.
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1 of 2Photo: AP
–Meeting postponed
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki commented on the sensational decision on Sunday, saying Putin’s reasoning follows a pattern of fabricating threats that do not exist.
A planned meeting between representatives of Russia and Ukraine near the border with Belarus was to take place on Sunday, but was postponed until Monday. The meeting place is a compromise after Ukrainian President Zelensky refused to hold talks in Belarus, which is part of the conflict.
On Monday, the UN General Assembly will also meet for an emergency meeting, after the Security Council held a vote on this Sunday, against which Russia could not veto. Thus, all 193 members of the UN can comment on the war in Ukraine.
Want Ukraine to join the EU
When asked if it might be relevant to grant Ukraine EU membership, the head of the European Commission replied Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday night Euronews that there is already close cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, and that the country is welcome in the long run.
“They are one of us, and we want them in,” von der Leyen told the newspaper.
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