Putin nuclear ally warns world is just a 'minute to doomsday'

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A senior Belarusian minister and ally of Vladimir Putin has warned the West that the world has returned to a place where nuclear war is a possibility. Speaking at the UN this week, Belarus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov, noted how the world is the "closest ever" to midnight on the doomsday clock, as war continues to rage in Ukraine.

He said: "The Doomsday Clock shows less than one and a half minutes to midnight, symbolising the moment of nuclear apocalypse. This is the closest the clock has ever been to midnight."

Founded in 1947 in the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings by the United States, the clock has served as a yearly metaphor for how close humankind is to a worldwide devastation of its own making. Originally created to raise awareness about the risks of nuclear weapons, the clock now represents humanity's fragile insecurity with climate change and unrestrained scientific advancements in bioterrorism and artificial intelligence. The clock's new time of 89 seconds to midnight was announced in January, moving one second closer than where it had remained for the previous two years, symbolising a rise in global tensions.

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Ryzhenkov told delegates: "This is the closest the clock has ever been to midnight.

"The world has once again returned to a point where the nuclear threat is clearly visible," as he confirmed that Russian nuclear weapons are set to be held in the country.

The nuclear warheads, which could hit London within eight minutes of being fired, will be stationed in the country which has long supported Putin's war in Ukraine, a country it shares a 674-mile border with.

In his speech, Ryzhenkov blamed the West for heightening tensions as he accused Nato allies of rearming and posing a threat to the Minsk government.

He said: "The West has quietly begun to re-arm, and today they're even laying mines on our borders in Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

"Belarus was forced to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons to guarantee its security.

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"Russian Oreshnik ballistic missiles will be deployed on Belarusian territory for the same purpose."

The Oreshnik travels at Mach 10 (7,673mph), making it almost impossible to intercept, and can strike at targets up to 3,107 miles (5,000km) away.

Putin has in the past threatened the west with the missiles which have been used to devastating effect in Ukraine.

Speaking after the UK and US gave Ukraine permission to launch western provided missiles in an offensive capacity against Russia, Putin authorised the use of Oreshnik on a Ukrainian facility, as he threatened that Moscow would "respond symmetrically" to any "escalation".

He said in the aftermath: "Russia had conducted combat tests of the 'Oreshnik' hypersonic missile system in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries against Russia.

"In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.

"In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested, among other things. In this case, with a ballistic missile in a nuclear-free hypersonic equipment."