Deal with allied neighbor would possibly not violate non-proliferation agreements, Putin says
Russia has reached an agreement with Belarus to place tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its small neighbor, bringing its arsenal closer to the rest of Europe, Vladimir Putin said.
The Russian president made the announcement on state television, saying it would not violate nonproliferation agreements and would correspond to agreements the United States has with several of its European allies.
Putin said he acted after negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who said he “has long raised the issue” of a nuclear deployment on his country’s territory.
“There is nothing here either: First, the United States has been doing this for decades,” Putin said. “They have long since deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries. “
The Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation estimates that there are about a hundred American nuclear weapons (airborne gravity bombs) stored in Europe at six bases in five countries, despite being under U. S. control.
“We agreed that we will do the same, violating our obligations, stressing, violating our external obligations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,” the Russian president added.
Putin has made nuclear threats or stepped up nuclear rhetoric after the all-out invasion of Ukraine, but this is the first time he has announced a plan to place nuclear weapons in any other country.
Moscow has 5,977 nuclear warheads in its inventory, according to the Federation of American Scientists, and has long had the ability to strike a target anywhere in the world. The United States has less, 5,428.
The U. S. Defense Department said Saturday that there is no indication Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons after Moscow’s announcement.
“We have noticed data on Russia’s announcement and will continue to monitor this situation,” the department’s press said. “We have not noticed any explanation for why to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor any indication that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. . We remain committed to the collective defence of the NATO alliance.
Belarus is one of Russia’s last remaining friends. Lukashenko allowed the Kremlin to invade Ukraine from its territory at the beginning of the war, in which Moscow tried in vain to capture Kiev. But it did not enroll in the war itself, and some other attack through the exit counter is still not considered likely.
However, Putin’s televised comments came just days after the Kremlin signed a joint agreement with China to limit long-term nuclear weapons deployments abroad, following Beijing President Xi Jinping’s stopover at home.
Russia will have finished the structure of a tactical nuclear weapons garage facility in Belarus by July 1, Putin said, but no timeline has been given on when the bombs would physically enter the country.
Pavel Podvig, director of allocations for the Russian Nutransparent Forces and one of the world’s leading independent experts on Russia’s cloud-transparent arsenal, said it is not transparent if the garage site is already under construction.
If so, Podvig tweeted that he expected it to be temporarily located through satellite imagery from independent specialists because “three months [to complete it by July] turns out to be a very tight schedule. “
Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, Putin said, and supplied them adequately. The crews will be trained starting April 3, the president added.
Putin also said Russia had given Belarus Iskander missile systems that can only be used to deliver transparent weapons, though it is unclear whether this reflects the type of bombs that will be deployed.
The Russian leader also bizarrely claimed that Lukashenko had inquired about nuclear weapons after a previous week from the UK that it would get depleted uranium shells with its fleet of Challenger 2 tanks.
Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the enrichment process to make nuclear weapons or fuel, making it less radioactive. Its military purpose is to be a hard, penetrating steel for projectiles, and its toxicity makes its use on the battlefield debatable. It is by no means a nuclear weapon.
U. S. nuclear weapons are believed to be stored at six bases: Kleine Brogel in Belgium; Büchel Air Base in Germany; Aviano and Ghedi air bases in Italy; Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands; and İncirlik in Turkey.