International
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Minsk,
Feb
28:
Belarus
on
Monday
voted
in
favour
of
the
new
constitutional
reforms
that
will
now
allow
the
country
to
host
nuclear
weapons,
making
it
a
potential
launchpad
for
its
strongest
ally
Russia
in
the
wake
of
the
ongoing
war
between
Moscow
and
Ukraine.
At
least
65.16%
of
Belarusians
cast
in
support
of
the
referendum,
VOA
News
reported,
citing
Minsk
Central
Election
Commission
head,
Igor
Karpenko.
To
come
into
force,
the
amendments
need
to
receive
at
least
50
percent
of
the
vote
with
a
turnout
of
over
half
the
electorate.
The
vote
also
approved
an
extended
rule
of
Belarusian
President
Alexander
Lukashenko.
The
referendum
was
held
Sunday
as
the
ex-Soviet
country’s
neighbour
Ukraine
is
under
attack
from
Russian
troops
and
delegations
from
Moscow
and
Kyiv
are
expected
to
meet
for
talks
on
the
Belarusian
border.
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin
reportedly
has
put
Russia’s
nuclear
deterrent
forces
on
“special
alert,”
as
per
US
ambassador
to
the
UN
Linda
Thomas-Greenfield.
On
the
sidelines
of
the
voting
process,
Minsk
is
also
set
to
host
Russian
representatives
and
their
Ukrainian
counterparts
for
talks
in
the
Belarusian
border
city
of
Gomel.
The
majority
vote
suggested
that
nuclear
weapons
could
make
a
re-entry
to
Belarusian
soil
for
the
first
time
after
the
fall
of
the
Soviet
Union.
“If
you
(the
West)
transfer
nuclear
weapons
to
Poland
or
Lithuania,
to
our
borders,
then
I
will
turn
to
Putin
to
return
the
nuclear
weapons
that
I
gave
away
without
any
conditions,”
Belarusian
President
Alexander
Lukashenko
said
on
Sunday
while
addressing
the
press
at
the
polling
station,
as
per
TRT
World.
(with
PTI
inputs)
Story first published: Monday, February 28, 2022, 13:50 [IST]