Russia stressed on Thursday that the decision to send short-range tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was in response to the decision by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to move closer to Russia’s borders.
“NATO is expanding to the borders with Russia. It is not Russia that is approaching the borders with NATO with its military infrastructure. This is a move in the opposite direction,” said Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov. .
Quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency, Peskov stressed that Russia is “concerned about its security” and that measures are being taken to “guarantee and rebalance the security architecture on the continent”.
At the end of March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an agreement for the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, in response to the British announcement of the supply of depleted uranium munitions to the Ukrainian armed forces.
According to Putin, the construction of the tactical nuclear weapons storage facilities in Belarus will be completed on July 1, although the weapons will always remain under Russian control.
On the same occasion, Putin stressed that sending tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus is not a violation of non-proliferation agreements because the United States has had similar weapons in other countries for years.
Belarus has had Iskander tactical missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads for months, and Russia has already deployed up to 10 nuclear-powered warplanes on Belarusian territory.
Source: DN
