President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in a move that is seen as a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine and an escalation of tensions with the West.
Although not surprising, this is one of Russia’s most significant nuclear signals since it began its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago.
Putin stated that the move would not violate nuclear non-proliferation promises. He compared it to the US stationing its weapons in Europe and emphasized that Russia would not be transferring control to Belarus.
However, this could be the first time since the mid-1990s that Russia has based such weapons outside its borders.
The United States, the world’s other nuclear superpower, reacted cautiously to Putin’s statement, with a senior administration official saying that there were no signs Moscow planned to use its nuclear weapons.
Experts suggest that this development is significant since Russia had always been proud that it did not deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders, unlike the US.
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