Belarus has decided to give up on its non-nuclear status as on Monday it voted to allow the country to host nuclear weapons and Russian forces permanently. Central Election Commission head Igor Karpenko said that 65.16 per cent of referendum participants voted in favour of the amendments and 10.07 per cent voted against. The voter turnout stood at 78.63 per cent.
The development comes at a time when Ukraine is under attack from Russian troops and delegations from Moscow and Kyiv are meeting for talks on the Belarusian border.
By amending the constitution Lukashenko is following the footsteps of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2020, Putin oversaw a vote on constitutional changes. This made it possible for him to remain in power until 2036.
Meanwhile, a top US intelligence official quoted by the news agency Associated Press has stated that Belarus may send its troops to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarus has been providing indirect support but, has so far, not taken a direct part.
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The anonymous official is believed to have direct knowledge of the ongoing American intelligence assessments. He said that the decision of involving his country in the war, by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, depends on the Russia-Ukraine talks over the next few days.
Ukraine, on Sunday, said that it was ready to hold talks with Russia at the Ukraine-Belarus border near the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Moscow has wanted to hold the talks in Kremlin-aligned Belarus.
Zelensky, refusing to travel to Minsk, said Kyiv had proposed “Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku” as options to Russia.
(With inputs from agency)
