According to Reuters on June 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 9th that Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. It is the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that Moscow has deployed a tactical nuclear warhead outside Russia.
Putin announced in March that he had agreed to deploy such weapons in Belarus, and he noted that the United States has deployed tactical nuclear weapons in numerous European countries for decades.
“Everything is going according to plan,” Putin told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko about the nuclear deployment during a dinner with him at his summer retreat in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
“Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich,” Lukashenko said.
The current conflict in Ukraine, now more than 15 months old, is the largest ground conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. Mr. Putin said the United States and its Western Allies were sending weapons to Ukraine as part of a widening proxy war to bring Russia to its knees.
Mr Putin described the war as a “life-and-death battle for Russia in the face of an ever-expanding NATO”. He warned the West that Moscow would not back down.
US has criticized Mr. Putin’s deployment of nuclear weapons, but has said it has no intention of changing its strategic nuclear posture and says it hasn’t seen any indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons.
It is not clear where Russia’s nuclear warheads will be stored in Belarus, and Russia will remain in control of them in the future.
Putin is the ultimate decision maker on any nuclear weapons launch. He said Iskander, a mobile short-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, has been handed over to Belarus. Russian sources say the Iskander missile has a range of 500 kilometers. Belarus said it had modified Su-25 attack aircraft to carry the warhead. According to Russian sources, the Su-25 attack aircraft has a range of up to 1,000 kilometers.
If nuclear weapons are launched from Belarus’ main air base outside Minsk, these nuclear-capable delivery vehicles could put nearly all of Eastern Europe – including numerous NATO members – and cities like Berlin and Stockholm within striking range.
According to TASS news agency, the White House National Security Council strategic communications coordinator Kirby said on the 9th that the United States has not seen any signs that the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus poses a risk of nuclear war.
He also said there was no reason for Washington to change the readiness of its strategic forces because of the news.