Russian President Vladimir V. Putin said he could deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by the summer, a move that risks increasing tensions with the United States and Europe while his forces waging war in Ukraine.
The Russian leader has many times arouse the obsession with the use of nuclear weapons since ordering a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. While US officials have said they see no attempt by Russia to move or use its nuclear weapons and believe the risk of using them is low, anxiety has persisted.
Mr. Putin’s remarks about the placement of weapons in Belarus – a prospect he first raised last year – could again trigger loud gunfire. It doesn’t necessarily change the calculus of the battlefield: Any target that Moscow could strike from Belarus, which borders three NATO members, could strike from Russian territory.
American officials indicated that they did not perceive an immediate escalation.
In an interview with state media released online on Saturday, Putin said that the construction of a tactical nuclear weapons storage facility in Belarus would be completed by July 1. according to Tass news agencyalthough it is unclear whether and when nuclear weapons will be delivered there.
Increasingly isolated from the West, Putin has relied on allies like Belarus, a country bordering Ukraine that has been used as a springboard for an all-out invasion by Moscow. Mr. Putin stated that President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus had asked Moscow to place weapons on its territory. There was no immediate comment from Belarus’s Lukashenko.
Putin made the comments during a wide-ranging interview for a state television program dedicated to the Russian president called “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin,” which airs on Sunday nights.
To answer a question focused on Britain decided to send weapons containing depleted uranium to UkraineMr Putin condemned the British move and later said he was working on a plan, first revealed last year, to give Russia the ability to place nuclear weapons in Belarus.
But Mr Putin considered his announcement “nothing unusual”, saying the US has long deployed its own nuclear weapons within the borders of its European allies.
“In principle, we are doing all the things that they have been doing for decades. “Not in violation, I want to emphasize this, of our international obligations to nuclear non-proliferation,” he added.
His remarks added some details to what is known about the Russian plan, including that Moscow will begin training Belarusian crews to operate the weapons in April and that Russia has retrofitted 10 more. Belarusian fighters to be able to carry weapons.
But Mr. Putin was vague about when Russia actually sent Belarus nuclear warheads. When asked in a follow-up question by the interviewer, Pavel Zarubin, “when and under what conditions can the weapons be delivered?” Putin only responded by saying that Russia was copying information. America’s “nuclear sharing” in the United States. that America’s nuclear weapons are based in allied countries like Germany.
Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, accused the Kremlin of occupying Belarus “like a nuclear hostage.” Germany’s foreign ministry called Putin’s statement “another attempt at nuclear intimidation”.
Late Saturday, the Pentagon released an emailed statement that read: “We have reviewed reports of the Russian announcement and will continue to monitor this situation.” It added: “We do not see any reason to adjust its own strategic nuclear posture nor any indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons. We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance.”
Behind Putin’s bragging, analysts say, the immediate significance of his comments on nuclear security appears to be minimal.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, dismissed Putin’s claims as an “information operation” with little risk of escalation.
“Putin is trying to exploit the West’s fear of nuclear escalation,” it said, adding that the group “continues to assess that Putin is a risk-averse actor who repeatedly threatens to use nuclear weapons that have no intention of following to disrupt the West. handle.”
Pavel Podvig, a longtime researcher on Russia’s nuclear forces at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament in Geneva, said he still thinks it’s highly unlikely that Russia will actually move nuclear warheads into Belarus. , despite Mr. Putin’s latest comments.
Podvig said Russia’s nuclear storage sites are so complex that he doubts that a facility in Belarus will be ready to receive them by July.
“It’s not a positive development, of course, but as long as the weapons are in storage the threat is not immediate,” Mr. Podvig said. “Yes, in theory, Russia could achieve more goals from Belarus, but the change is insignificant.”
Russia has up to 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, less productive than the strategic one that can traverse an entire continent. A tactical nuclear weapon has never been used in combat, but it can be deployed in a number of ways, including by rockets or shells.
Christopher F. Schuetze contribution report.
