President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, marking the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have such arms outside the country.
The Russian leader made the declaration at a time of growing tensions with the West over the Ukraine war and as some Russian commentators speculate about possible nuclear strikes.
Putin told state television that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had long suggested having tactical nuclear weapons stationed in his country, which borders NATO member Poland.
“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,” he said.
“We agreed that we will do the same — without violating our obligations, I emphasise, without violating our international obligations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
“Tactical” nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific gains on the frontline. The date for transferring the weapons to Belarus is not clear at the moment.
Russia’s construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus could be accomplished by July 1, Putin said, adding that Moscow would not actually be transferring control of the arms to Minsk.
The U.S. State Department and the Pentagon is yet to respond to Kremlin. Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, he said, adding that Moscow had already transferred to Belarus a number of Iskander tactical missile systems that can be used to launch nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons were deployed in the four newly-independent states of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
However, in May 1992, the four states agreed all the weapons should be based in Russia and the transfer of warheads from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan was concluded in 1996.