“Very little” The Bahamas can do if Russian nuclear weapons are released
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe said yesterday there are currently no security concerns as it relates to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict in eastern Europe.
Munroe’s comments came as the Russian military assault on Ukraine continued into its fifth day and global tensions with a potential nuclear threat now looming.
“If you come to the point of release of nuclear weapons that would be what would touch and concern us here,” he told reporters yesterday.
“I wouldn’t think that you would have much of an issue there. I know sometime last year there were two Russian nuclear bombers in Venezuela.
“But if you talk about the release of nuclear weapons there’s very little that you can do here to address that and we don’t have any here to respond to anybody.”
Munroe also dismissed reports of “nuclear weapons” being tested in Eleuthera last week as “mischief”, insisting that the United States doesn’t have any here in The Bahamas.
“That’s sheer nonsense,” the national security minister said during the handover of the new prison commissioner at The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
“I don’t have a clue what one would want to target in The Bahamas. You reach the point where mischievous people have nothing better to do than to sit down and create these things. There are no US nuclear weapons here as far as we are aware.
“If there are going to be nuclear strikes, one would wonder why somebody would target The Bahamas and persons just need to stop getting up to mischief.”
Asked whether the growing issue in Eastern Europe has led to any possible review of the country’s national emergency protocols, Munroe said: “The superpower near to us is the U.S.
“I don’t envisage us doing anything that will put us in conflict with the US. We have good diplomatic relations with Cuba.
“We are not in conflict with anyone at all and we don’t become involved in proxy wars. Fortunately for us, we are not strategically significant anyone.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Immigration Keith Beth said while it is unfortunate that the incident is taking place, it is a significant distance away and there are no concerns of irregular migration to The Bahamas.
The Russian military invaded Ukraine last week Thursday, launching a wide-ranging attack on the country.
On Sunday, Putin issued a directive to increase the readiness of the country’s nuclear weapons, putting Russian nuclear forces on high alert.
Putin cited the financial sanctions now being placed on the country by the world and “aggressive statements” by NATO as the cause for the dramatic escalation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed to meet with Russian officials at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border; however, those talks ended with no agreement on a ceasefire.
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