CND Press Digest: Friday 26th May 2023

War In Ukraine/NATO

• CND’s news item on the agreement signed by Minsk and Moscow on deploying Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.
• The Guardian on comments by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who suggested that Russia has already begun moving nuclear warheads for storage to Belarus, adding that it was possible that the weapons had already arrived in his country. Asked if the weapons had already arrived, he said: “Maybe. I will go and take a look.”
• Washington came out on Thursday to strongly condemn the Rus-Bel nuclear agreement, but said it would not result in a change in US nuclear posture.
• Japan also condemned the deal, announcing a fresh wave of sanctions against dozens of Russian individuals and groups on Friday.
• Ally of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, reportedly pulling out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, to be replaced by regular Russian forces. Wagner has been trying to capture the city since August 2022 but has failed to gain full control from Ukraine.

British Nuclear Weapons

• The National on recent nuclear weapons convoys passing through Glasgow this week.

AUKUS

• The MoD has announced that the first AUKUS artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy trial took place in Wiltshire in April. The trial saw AI retrained to improve performance against known targets and to be able to identify emergent targets, involving vehicles including the UK’s Blue Bear Ghost and Challenger 2 tanks.
• Meanwhile, have admitted that bags of hazardous clinical waste from the former nuclear site were accidentally disposed of at a number of local dumps. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency is investigating.

Nuclear Energy

• The European Commission has given its blessing to Hungary to change contracts said France needs to invest more in its nuclear industry if its fleets is to remain safe.
• The Independent on the delays to opening a nuclear plant in the US state of Georgia.

Iran Nuclear Deal

• Iran unveiled the latest version of its liquid-fueled Khorramshahr ballistic missile to journalists during an event on Thursday. It also released a video of an undated test-launch of the missile.
• The latest Iranian missile test has been condemned by France, who accusedTehran of violating a UN Security Council resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal.

Best,

Pádraig McCarrick

Press and Communications Officer

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament