MOSCOW: In an apparent warning to Europe and the US over its military support for Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will station its tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.
The announcement, although not unexpected, will further escalate the standoff with the West.
Putin said that the move would not violate nuclear non-proliferation treaties. However, it is one of Moscow’s most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its assault on Ukraine 13 months ago.
The United States, the world’s top nuclear superpower, has reacted cautiously to Putin’s announcement, with a senior administration official stating that there were no signals Moscow planned to use its nuclear weapons.
Putin likened his plans to the U.S. stationing its weapons in Europe and said Russia would not transfer control to Belarus. But this could be the first time since the mid-1990s that Russia were to shift nuclear weapons outside the country.
Putin told state television that there was nothing unusual in it as the United States had been doing that for decades. He said that they (the US) have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries.
Putin said that they will do the same without violating their obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.
Tensions had grown over the war in Ukraine after heavy supplies of Western weaponry to Kyiv and Russia shifted its rhetoric on its military operation away from ‘demilitarisation’ of its neighbour to fighting “the collective West” there.
Some belligerent Russian politicians and commentators had long speculated about nuclear strikes, saying Russia had the right to defend itself with nuclear weapons if it was pushed beyond its limits.
“Tactical” nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific gains on a battlefield rather than those with the capacity to annihilate cities. It was unclear how many such weapons Russia has given it was an area still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.
Experts told Reuters the development was vital since Russia had until now been proud that, unlike the US, it did not deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders.
A senior US administration official said that Russia and Belarus had been speaking about the transfer of nuclear weapons for some time.
He said that they have not seen any reason to adjust their strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia was preparing to use a nuclear weapon. He said that they remain committed to the collective defence of the NATO alliance.
Putin, however, did not specify when the nuclear weapons would be transferred to Belarus, which has borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. He said that Russia would complete the construction of a storage facility in Belarus by July 1.
