Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday that Russia has launched the production of its latest hypersonic missile, reiterating the plans to take it in the Belarus ally until the end of this year, the AP reports.
Putin and Lukașenko on the island of Valaam PHOTO EPA-EFE
With the president of Belarus, Alexandr Lukașnko, on the island of Valaam (northwest), near St. Petersburg, Putin said that the army has already selected the Belarus for the intermediate range of Oreșnik.
“The preparations are in progress and, most likely, we will complete them before the end of the year”, Putin said, adding that the first series of Oreșnik missiles and the related systems have already come out of production and have entered the service.
Russia used this rocket for the first time against Ukraine in November, when it launched the weapon at that time experimental on a Dnipro missile factory.
Putin spoke praiseworthy about the capabilities of Oreșnik rocket, emphasizing that his multiple focus on a speed of speed 10 are immune to interception and at the same time that the use of some simultaneously in a single conventional attack could be as devastating as a nuclear attack.
He warned the West that Moscow has the opportunity to use rockets against NATO allies of Ukraine, who allowed Kiev to launch their long -range missiles to attack in Russia's depth.
In this regard, the head of Russia's missile forces said that the Oreșnik rocket, capable of transporting conventional or nuclear focouas, has an action ray that allows it to reach throughout Europe.
The intermediate -range rockets can fly between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Such weapons were forbidden under a treaty from the Soviet era, abandoned by Washington and Moscow in 2019.
Russia and Belarus, tight alliance
Last fall, Putin and Lukașnko signed a treaty that offers Belarus security guarantees, including the use of Russian nuclear weapons to reject any aggression. The pact was signed following the Kremlin review of its nuclear doctrine, which first placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella against the background of the West related to the Ukraine conflict.
Lukașenko, who led Belarus with iron -hand for over 30 years and has based on subsidies and support of the Kremlin, allowed Russia to use its country to send troops over the border in 2022 and host some of its tactical nuclear weapons. Russia did not reveal how many such weapons were carried out, but Lukasnko said in December that his country has several tens.
The development of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which has a border of 1,084 kilometers with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and rockets to reach potential targets there easier and faster, if Moscow decides to use them. It also extends Russia's ability to target several NATO allies in Eastern and Central Europe.
The revised nuclear doctrine, signed by Putin last fall, officially reduced the threshold of nuclear weapons by Russia. The document states that Moscow can use nuclear weapons “in response to the use of nuclear weapons and other types of mass destruction weapons” against Russia or its allies, as well as “in case of aggression” against Russia and Belarus with conventional weapons that threaten their “sovereignty and/or their territorial integrity”.
Putin: Russia does not occupy territories in Ukraine but recovers what is hers
Putin made this statement as a comment of the situation around the city of Ceasov and from the Donetk region (eastern Ukraine), whose capture was recently announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to The Moscow Times.
He intervened to make clarifications after his counterpart Belarus said that Ukraine should negotiate peace under the conditions placed by Putin, otherwise the Russian troops, who, in his opinion, bear the war successfully, “will bear everything, will conquer and go further.”
“They recover (what) is ours,” interrupted Putin Lukașenko.
Putin met with Lukaşnko on the island of Valaam, located in the northern part of Lake Ladoga. On this occasion, they visited a famous monastery on the island, nicknamed the North Athos. The images published by Kremlin show them by standing with candles in their hands, surrounded by clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church.
US are ready to impose sanctions
The US reiterated on Thursday evening in the UN Security Council that President Donald Trump wants an agreement to end the Russia's war in Ukraine until August 8, according to Reuters.
“Both Russia and Ukraine have to negotiate an armistice and sustainable peace. It is time to reach an agreement. President Trump has said that this should be done until August 8. The United States is ready to implement additional measures,” John Kelley, a high -ranking US diplomat, announced.
Noting that he is not impressed by Donald Trump's ultimatum, the Russian leader commented that the Ukraine war is in his favor and has made it clear that he would not change his position, but he also said that the three rounds of peace with Ukraine have given some positive results and that they are expected to continue.
“But in order to approach the problem peacefully, it is necessary to bear detailed discussions. And not in public, but calmly, in the silence of the negotiation process,” he pointed out.
