Belarus
Country Spotlight
Belarus gained independence following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and inherited a nuclear weapons infrastructure. It transferred all remaining nuclear weapons to Russia by 1996. Today, Belarus is a close ally of Russia who participated in Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In February 2022, Ukraine amended its constitution to allow Russia to deploy nuclear weapons on Belarussian territory.
See Belarus' preformance in
Region Former Soviet Union
Article 18 Until 2022, enshrined Belarus's non-nuclear status.
1992 Transferred all Soviet chemical weapons back to Russia
1st Nuclear power plant currently under construction
Nuclear
- 2022 constitutional change renounced Belarus's non-nuclear status
- Possesses 230 kg of highly-enriched uranium (HEU); talks to repatriate HEU to Russia collapsed in 2011
- Joined the NPT as a non-nuclear weapons state in July 1993
Nuclear Disarmament Belarus
Biological
- Has never possessed an offensive biological weapons program

Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation
Belarus Overview
Missile
- Did not inherit any major missile production or design facilities from the Soviet Union
- Collaborates with Russia on missile design, production, and defense
- Began producing Polonez, a short-range multiple-launch missile system, in 2017 with the help of China

Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems

The CNS Global Missile Defense Engagements Database
Chemical
- Has not attempted to restart a chemical weapons program since the removal of Soviet WMDs in the 1990’s

Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation

NTI Tutorials
Treaties and Regimes Memberships
- NTI
- CNS

Investing in Global Health Security: How to Build a Fund for Pandemic Preparedness in 2022
On April 21, 2022, immediately after G20 finance ministers and central bank governors reached consensus to establish a new Fund for preparedness at the World Bank, a group of leading experts and stakeholders from met to review progress and offer advice on next steps. This paper aims to inform next steps to structure, approve, and launch a new Fund, including the forthcoming consultative process led by the World Bank.

Investigating High-Consequence Biological Events of Unknown Origin
Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
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7 am EDT / 1 pm CEST

Depicting Nuclear Risk Accurately: The Likely Global Effects of Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century

Education Center