President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, its neighbour. This will be the first time since the middle of the 1990s that Moscow has done so.
Putin announced the move while tensions with the West over the Ukraine conflict were rising and some Russian commentators were making nuclear attack speculations.
The other nuclear superpower in the world, the United States, reacted carefully. There were no indications that Moscow meant to deploy its nuclear weapons, according to a senior administration official who recalled that Belarus and Russia had discussed such an agreement over the previous year.
Nuclear weapons referred as “tactical” are those that are deployed on the battlefield to achieve specified objectives as opposed to ones that can completely destroy cities. Because that this is still a topic that is cloaked in Cold War secrecy, it is unknown how many of these weapons Russia possesses.
Analysts told Reuters the change was significant because, unlike the United States, Russia had previously taken pride in not stationing nuclear weapons outside of its boundaries.
Putin stated on national television that Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, had long brought up the topic of placing tactical nuclear weapons in his nation.
“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 emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.”
The senior U.S. administration official highlighted that Minsk and Moscow have been in contact for some time regarding the transfer of nuclear weapons.
“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance,” the official said.
Lukashenko did not respond immediately.
Also Read: OnePlus 11: Top variant with innovative features to launch in India, specs and all other details here
Keep watching our YouTube Channel ‘DNP INDIA’. Also, please subscribe and follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and TWITTER
