Kyiv is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to Russia's decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In it, Ukraine calls on Britain, China, the US and France to respond to the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail.
“The latest statements by the Russian Federation about intentions to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus are another provocative step of the criminal Putin regime, which undermines the principles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the system of international security as a whole,” the ministry’s website says.
“Such intentions cannot but cause particular concern for the entire world community, since Russia declares them at a time when it is waging an unprovoked aggressive war,” the message also says.
The agency also appealed to the Belarusian society to prevent the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, as this could “turn the country into a hostage of the Kremlin and would have catastrophic consequences for its future.”
In his Twitter, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that in the event of the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus, the European Union would be ready to impose new sanctions.
“The deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus could lead to an irresponsible escalation and be perceived as a threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it's their choice,” Borrell wrote.
Military expert Pavel Luzin, in an interview with The Insider, noted that the decision to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus was made back in 2022 and nothing has been moved yet.
“This story has been going on since 2021. The decision was made in the summer of 2022. The goal is to increase pressure on the West. This is being done in the context of the war itself, but also in the context of Russia's demands to withdraw American nuclear weapons from Europe in order to weaken the military-political unity of NATO. But no one has moved anything yet. The storage point will be built only by July 1. Accordingly, for the functioning of the storage point, a separate unit is needed with a security company, a motor depot and officers who could serve nuclear weapons. And that's the bare minimum."
On March 25, Vladimir Putin announced that on July 1, Russia would complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. He said this in the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" to Pavel Zarubin on the air of the TV channel "Russia 24".
According to Putin, Minsk “has been asking for a long time to place Russian tactical nuclear weapons in them,” now Belarus has converted aircraft ready for its use, the Iskander complex has also been handed over to it, and crew training will begin on April 3.
“We are not transferring our tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, but we will deploy them and train the military, as the United States is doing in Europe,” he stressed.
Putin also claims that Russia has "hundreds of thousands" of depleted uranium shells. He said that Russia "does not allow excessive militarization of its economy, does not reduce anything."
