Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares a long border with Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. Putin stated that the move would not violate nuclear non-proliferation agreements and compared it to the US stationing its weapons in Europe.
The US responded by saying that they do not believe Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons after the announcement. The Belarusian regime is a firm Kremlin ally and supporter of the invasion of Ukraine. This will be the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have nuclear arms outside the country.
The announcement comes only days after Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow, during which Russia and China issued a joint statement saying all nuclear powers must not deploy their nuclear weapons beyond their national territories, and they must withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed abroad.
Belarus is close to the Ukraine border and hence, moving nuclear assets may eventually disturb the security environment, and any nuclear attack on Ukraine might invite the participation of NATO and the western countries. This would be a dreadful scenario for the whole world and even Ukraine has raised its alert on this latest move by Russia.
