March 25 (Portal) – Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, marking the first time Moscow has stationed such weapons outside the country since the mid-1990s.
Putin made the announcement at a time of rising tensions with the West over the Ukraine war and while some Russian commentators are speculating about possible nuclear strikes.
Putin told state television that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in his country, which borders NATO member Poland.
“Again, there is nothing unusual: First, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long stationed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries,” he said.
“We agreed to do the same – without violating our commitments, I stress, without violating our international non-proliferation commitments.”
Putin did not specify when the weapons will be delivered to Belarus. “Tactical” nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific purposes on the battlefield.
Russia will complete construction of a tactical nuclear weapons storage facility in Belarus by July 1, Putin said, adding that Moscow will not actually transfer control of the weapons to Minsk.
The US State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately respond for comment.
Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus that can carry tactical nuclear weapons, he said, adding that Moscow has already transferred to Belarus a number of Iskander tactical missile systems that could be used to launch nuclear weapons.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, nuclear weapons were stationed in the four newly independent states of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
In May 1992, the four states agreed that all weapons should be based in Russia, and transfers of warheads from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan were completed in 1996.
Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa Editing by Matthew Lewis and Deepa Babington
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