Putin says Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russiaplans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday.

In an interview with Belarusian state television on Saturday, the Belarusian leader stated that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a around Putin friend, had consented to the implementation. He also disclosed that Belarus had also received an Iskander short-range missile system from the Kremlin, which can be equipped with nuclear or standard warheads. According to him, Russia had already assisted Belarus in updating 10 plane to get them capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons and would begin training pilots to use the aircraft in earlier April.

PUTIN-ALIGNED BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT LUKASHENKO IS HOSTED BY CHINESE LEADER XI.

Putin continued,” Russia has started building a distinct storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons here, and it should be finished by early July.” He asserted that Minsk did not receive authority of the weapons from Moscow.

The Russian president claimed that the action was a direct reaction to the UK’s choice to supply Ukraine with armor-piercing contained that contained depleted uranium. It represents Putin’s most serious nuclear threat since launching the Russian invasion next February and is intended to discourage the U.K. and its NATO allies from continuing for assistance for Ukraine.

Putin, for his part, asserted that the action would not go against radioactive non-proliferation commitments. How many of the weapons Moscow intended to keep with its northern neighbour was a secret, he said. According to the U.S. public, Russia has nearly 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons.

Large nuclear warheads, such as those for artillery rounds, short-range missile launch, and bombs that can be carried by military aircraft, are considered tactical nuclear weapons. They are designed for use on the battlefield or for a small-scale strike.

Putin has relied on his extensive nuclear army to deter the West from getting involved more forcefully to halt his invasion of Ukraine. Putin and other prominent Kremlin figures have consistently warned that pleading with the United States and allies for sophisticated weapons may escalate the conflict to a” new point” whenever Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did so. Putin has officially denied rumors that he would consider using a nuclear weapons in Ukraine if doing so would guarantee his potential to invade Eastern Europe forcibly, but Saturday’s action serves as further evidence to Western leaders of this capability.

Russia’s cooperation in the New START treaty with the United States, which restricts both sides’ tactical nuclear arsenals, was suspended, but it was not removed, the Kremlin announced last month. Even though the U.S. State Department had charged Russia with breaking the convention even one month prior to the suspension, it is the only partnership still in place that governs the two largest nuclear arsenals in the world.

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Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty in 2010. Even days before it expires in February 2021, President Joe Biden consented to increase it for an additional five years into 2026. Although both sides agreed to delay that part of the agreement in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, each side is allowed to conduct up to 18 audits of nuclear weapons web periodically to ensure the other is compliant with the convention.

The Russian hand postponed the meeting that was supposed to take place between the two edges in November in Egypt to begin discussions about resumed checks.