President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus.
This would be the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow would base such arms outside the country. Belarus has borders with three NATO members – Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia
“There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries,” Putin told state television.
“We agreed that we will do the same – without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.”
Putin said that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had long requested the deployment. Lukashenko has not commented on the development.
Tactical nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific tactical gains on the battlefield, rather than destroying cities.
Ukraine’s reaction
Ukraine has accused Russia of destabilizing Belarus and making its smaller neighbor into “a nuclear hostage”.
Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, called the deal “a step towards internal destabilization” of Belarus, and said it maximized what he termed the level of “negative perception and public rejection” of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. “The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” he wrote on Twitter.
NATO criticizes Putin’s dangerous rhetoric
NATO criticized Vladimir Putin for his “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric, a day after the Russian president said he would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. NATO spokesperson said the organization was “closely monitoring the situation.”
The U.S. Department of Defense said it would continue to monitor the situation.
The U.S. said it did not believe Russia was preparing to use the nuclear weapons after the announcement. “We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture,” the U.S. said in a statement.