The Vice President of Bulgaria, Ilijana Iotova, on Sunday called for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, after the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, as a reaction to Great Britain’s decision to provide Ukraine with depleted uranium ammunition, reports the agency DPA.
The situation is becoming “more and more dangerous and scary”, noted Ilijana Iotova, adding that for this reason the Bulgarian president Rumen Radev is constantly asking for negotiations. This is Bulgaria’s desire, as more and more weapons lead to unpredictable decisions and now the threat is real, she explained.
“But I hope that in the end reason will prevail. And that in this case it is more about threats than about real actions”, said the Bulgarian vice-president.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that the Russian military’s tactical nuclear weapons will be stationed in Belarus, a further escalation of tensions between Moscow and the West.
Asked why he made such a decision now, the Kremlin leader said that this was a response to Britain’s intention to supply Ukraine with armor-piercing shells with depleted uranium. He argued that Russia is not doing anything “unusual” because the United States has “deployed” nuclear weapons in allied countries for a long time.
Moreover, Putin warned that Russia could also use shells with depleted uranium in the war in Ukraine, if the latter’s army obtains such ammunition. “We have, without exaggeration, hundreds of thousands of such shells”, but for now they have not been used, said the Russian president.
The British Ministry of Defense announced this week that the 14 Challenger 2 tanks that Britain will give to Ukraine to help in its war with Russia will be equipped with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium.
Depleted uranium munitions, already used by the US in the wars in Iraq and in the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia in 1999, are used in anti-tank projectiles, having a particular efficiency in armor piercing.
Source: psnews