RUSSIA: Important nuclear weapons would be placed by Russia in Belarus, as mentioned by President Vladimir Putin on Saturday after giving a warning to NATO for extending military support to Ukraine and establishing an alliance with the West.
Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, said, “This is part of Putin’s game to try to intimidate NATO because there is no military utility from doing this in Belarus as Russia has so many of these weapons and forces inside Russia.”
Since the Russia-Ukraine war began more than a year ago, this is Russia’s most serious and dangerous nuclear threat. Putin’s statement was taken with extreme caution by the world’s other nuclear superpower, the United States.
Putin told the state television, “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,” adding, “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.”
The war in Ukraine has been in a weak spot because the story of the war has been changing because of how much military equipment is being moved from the West to Moscow and Kyiv. Russian politicians and commentators have reinstated the notion that Russia has the right to fight for itself if nudged frequently.
Russia thought it was safe because, unlike the US, it didn’t send nuclear weapons outside of its borders. A senior US administration official said, “We have not seen any reason to adjust our strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. We remain committed to the collective defence of the NATO alliance.”
Putin said that Russia would finish putting together a storage facility in Belarus by July 1. However, he did not mention when the weapons would be taken to Belarus.
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