Belarus proposes a new nuclear plant to supply energy to Russian-occupied Ukraine

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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus unveiled a proposal on Friday to build a second nuclear power plant capable of supplying energy to Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.

President Alexander Lukashenko raised the plans during a meeting at the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin, who appeared to publicly support the idea.

Lukashenko said the plant could be used if needed to supply areas controlled by Russia in Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of Belarus’ opposition, told The Associated Press that the plans put “all of Europe at risk.”

She added: “By proposing that Putin build a second nuclear power plant in Belarus to supply electricity to occupied territories in Ukraine, Lukashenko once again proves he is complicit in Russian aggression. He is trading Belarusian sovereignty for power and profits from war crimes.”

Belarus opened its first nuclear power plant, in Astravets, in November 2020, amid protests and concern in neighboring Lithuania, where the authorities opposed the plant’s construction just 40 kilometers (25 miles) away from the capital, Vilnius.

The Astravets plant was built by the Russian state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, with a $10 billion loan provided by Moscow. Putin did not specify at Friday's meeting whether Russia would provide financial backing for a second plant.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for over three decades, is a close ally of the Kremlin. He allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and later authorized the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles.