Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system has entered active service in Belarus, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, as the US efforts to broker a deal to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine have entered a pivotal stage.
The ministry released a video showing combat vehicles that are part of the mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile system driving across a forest as part of combat training. The ministry’s announcement followed a statement from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who said earlier this month that the Oreshnik had arrived in the country. Lukashenko said that up to 10 such missile systems will be stationed in Belarus.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that the Oreshnik would enter combat duty before the year’s end. He made the statement at a meeting with top Russian military officers, where he warned that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.
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The announcement comes at a critical time for Russia-Ukraine peace talks. US President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his Florida resort on Sunday and insisted that Kyiv and Moscow were “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement.
However, Moscow and Kyiv remain deeply divided on key issues, including whose forces withdraw from where in Ukraine and the fate of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the 10 largest in the world. Trump noted that the months-long US-led negotiations could still collapse.
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