Why nuclear weapons at borders create a security dilemma and how the CSTO should respond

Director of the Center for International Studies of the Faculty of International Studies of the Belarusian State University Nikita Belenchenko told on the air of “First Information” why nuclear weapons at the borders create a security dilemma and how the CSTO should respond to this. It's from sb.by.

According to him, the CSTO faces external threats of a provocative nature:

- The deployment of nuclear weapons poses a serious threat to Belarus, all CSTO countries and Greater Eurasia. It is important that nuclear weapons do not become an element of deterrence, but only a pretext for retaliation. And this militarization does not lead to the resolution of existing conflicts, but on the contrary – even a slight push, provocation can serve as the beginning of serious hostilities involving third countries. That is what our President has said.

Nikita Belenchenko believes that the escalation has reached a peak:

- If the parties are unable to talk and negotiate, it will lead to consequences – up to the third world war. It is important that the CSTO pays attention to this. It is necessary to respond and respond, not by building up arms, but by ensuring that these countries renounce militarization. The CSTO has never said that its members produce some super-modern weapons and point them towards either the West or the East.

He added:

- Today, the CSTO is engaged not only in resolving conflicts within and around the participating countries, but also in creating sustainable security. This is due to the development of mechanisms to counter new threats. Because we understand that there are military and political threats – military armed conflicts, and there are non-traditional forms of threats – cyber threats, terrorism, extremism, threats in the sphere of sanctions policy. In the complex, they can create threats of a military nature. The main task of the CSTO is to build a stable system that will prevent their spread to the external borders of the organization’s area of responsibility.