Ukraine's top security official on Sunday denounced the Kremlin's plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus , saying that
Russia was taking its ally as a “nuclear hostage.” But
Moscow said it was making the move in response to the West's increasing
MILITARY support for Ukraine.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin announced the plan in a television interview that aired on Saturday, saying it was triggered by a U.K. decision this past week to provide
Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium. Putin argued that by deploying its tactical
nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the
United States. He noted that
Washington has nuclear weapons based in
Belgium,
Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands and
Turkey. “We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews,” he said. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, tweeted Sunday that Putin's announcement was “a step towards internal destabilization” of Belarus that maximized “the level of negative perception and public rejection” of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. The
Kremlin, Danilov added, “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.” On Saturday, Putin argued that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country again to counter NATO. Belarus shares borders with three
NATO members — Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — and Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground to send troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Both Lukashenko's support of the war and Putin's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has been denounced by the Belarusian opposition. Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia plans to maintain control over the ones it sends to Belarus, and construction of storage facilities for them will be completed by July 1, Putin said. Russia has stored its tactical nuclear weapons at dedicated depots on its territory, and moving part of the
Arsenal to a storage facility in Belarus would up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict by placing them closer to Russian aircraft and missiles already stationed there. The U.S. said it would “monitor the implications” of Putin’s announcement. So far, Washington hasn't seen "any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. In Germany, the foreign ministry called it a “further attempt at nuclear intimidation,” German news agency dpa reported late Saturday. The ministry went on to say that “the comparison drawn by President Putin to NATO’s nuclear participation is misleading and cannot be used to justify the step announced by Russia.” ___ Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report from
Berlin.