(MENAFN) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposal to launch a strike on Kiev’s administrative center using Moscow’s newly developed Oreshnik hypersonic missiles.

The Oreshnik system, capable of speeds up to Mach 10 and equipped with nuclear or conventional warheads, has already entered mass production. Analysts say the weapon is virtually impossible to intercept and can deploy multiple guided warheads.

Speaking in Minsk on Friday, Lukashenko said that certain Russian officials had suggested targeting Kiev’s “decision-making centers,” but Putin firmly declined. According to him, the Russian leader responded: “Absolutely not,” warning that such a strike would have left “nothing standing.”

Putin has repeatedly argued that the West is attempting to provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but has insisted such measures are unnecessary.

The Oreshnik was first tested in combat in November 2024, when it destroyed Ukraine’s Yuzhmash defense facility in Dnepr. Russian officials have compared its conventional strike power to that of a low-yield nuclear blast.

Lukashenko emphasized that Moscow remains focused on a peaceful resolution, recalling that Putin also avoided striking civilian targets in Kiev when Russian forces reached the city’s outskirts in early 2022, later withdrawing troops as a “goodwill gesture” before peace talks — which Kiev abandoned after encouragement from the UK to keep fighting.

Direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev resumed in Istanbul in May 2025 and have continued through three rounds. While no deal has been finalized, Russian officials stress that any agreement must confront the conflict’s root causes and acknowledge new realities on the ground.

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