European Union (EU) chief diplomat Josep Borrell on Friday condemned Russia’s transfer of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, calling the move “one that will lead to an extremely dangerous new escalation”.
For the EU, the decision violates several international commitments made by both countries, which, among other things, demand that Belarus remove all nuclear weapons from its territory.
“The Belarusian regime is complicit in Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. We call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately end their support for the Russian war of aggression and reverse decisions that can only contribute to increasing tensions in the region and the sovereignty of Belarus”, stressed the High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy in a statement.
“Any attempt to escalate the situation will be met with an energetic and coordinated response.”Borrell assured.
The defense ministers of Russia, Serguei Shoigu, and Belarus, Viktor Khrenin, signed a series of documents this Thursday in Minsk regulating the storage of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
“In the context of an extremely strong escalation of threats and the activity of joint NATO nuclear missions, we are obliged to take retaliatory measures in the military-nuclear field”Shoigu noted.
The Russian defense minister stressed that while Russia deploys non-strategic nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, Moscow retains control over these weapons and the decision on their ultimate use.
In March, Vladimir Putin indicated that he had already agreed with his Belarusian counterpart Moscow on the intention to install short-range tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
The signing of the agreement comes as Russia prepares for a long-awaited counter-offensive from Ukraine.
Russia and Belarus have an alliance agreement under which the Kremlin subsidizes the Belarusian economy through loans and rebates on Russian oil and gas.
Source: DN
