Lukashenko says if Kyiv rejects proposal 'they will lose Ukraine'

Lukashenko says if Kyiv rejects proposal 'they will lose Ukraine'

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has proposed the construction of a second nuclear power plant to supply energy to Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. This initiative was discussed during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Friday .

The new plant, if constructed, would be used to provide energy to the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions, which are currently under Russian control. Belarus opened its first nuclear power plant, the Astravets Nuclear Power Plant, in November 2020, built by the Russian state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, with a $10 billion loan from Moscow .

Lukashenko stated that if Kyiv rejects the proposal, it would be detrimental to Ukraine. However, Putin did not specify whether Russia would provide financial backing for the second plant during the meeting . Lukashenko, who has been in power for over three decades, is a close ally of the Kremlin and allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 .

This development raises significant geopolitical and energy security concerns. The proposal comes amid ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia, with energy supply being a critical factor in the conflict. The potential construction of a second nuclear power plant in Belarus could further complicate the energy landscape and political dynamics in the region.