Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called for global nuclear disarmament, suggesting that the weapons should be placed into a single “pile” and destroyed all at once. 

The leader made the remarks on Thursday when asked to comment on statements by French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to China. 

Macron stated that any notion of using nuclear weapons should be “totally excluded” from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He added that “under no circumstances” should nuclear arms be deployed outside the countries that possess them, “particularly in Europe.”

The latter remark was directed at the recent plan agreed by Moscow and Minsk, under which Belarus will host Russian tactical nuclear weapons.

In comments to Russia 24 TV correspondent Pavel Zarubin, Lukashenko said he agreed with Macron, and asserted that US nuclear weapons deployed to multiple European NATO members must be withdrawn – and ultimately destroyed. 

“I agree with him. Therefore, it is necessary to withdraw all the American nuclear weapons from the five or six countries where they are located,” Lukashenko said, urging worldwide disarmament. 

I am a radical in this respect – I think that nuclear weapons should be brought together into one pile and destroyed.

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was announced last month by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shortly after, Lukashenko said his country was also ready to host Russian strategic nuclear weapons, as the two nations “will stop at nothing” to protect their people. Such a move would show their readiness to defend “sovereignty and independence,” he added.

The nuclear agreement between Moscow and Minsk has been widely criticized in the West, with multiple senior officials threatening new sanctions against Belarus. However, Russia and its ally have dismissed the criticism, pointing at NATO’s own “nuclear sharing” scheme involving American weapons, which has been active for decades.