Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that Russia will install some of its nuclear weapons in Belarus. This is the first time in more than 30 years that Russia has installed such weapons outside the country, amid rising tensions between Russia and the United States, including a warning from Russian authorities of a possible nuclear conflict.
Highlights
- Putin told state television that Russia had reached an agreement with close ally Belarus and its president Alexander Lukashenko to stockpile tactical nuclear weapons there, according to multiple media reports.
- Putin said the decision to transfer nuclear weapons to Belarus was “not unusual,” adding that “the United States has been doing this for decades.”
- According to NATO, the United States has nuclear warheads stored in Europe as part of its membership in the organization, but it is not known when it sent its weapons abroad.
- Russia will complete the construction of a weapons storage facility by 1any Even if the transfer of the warheads would not have violated “our international obligations regarding the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,” Mr. Putin added in July.
- Putin had already pledged to expand Russia’s nuclear arsenal in a declaration last month, after suspending Russia’s role in the New START Treaty on Strategic Arms Limitation, a 2011 agreement with countries that limited the range of Russia’s intercontinental nuclear weapons.
Interesting quote
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council and former president of the country, warned earlier this week that support for Ukraine “brings close to a nuclear apocalypse”. He added that “Russia’s relations with the West are already worse than they have been in history.”
A large number
5,977. That’s the number of nuclear warheads Russia has in its arsenal, the Federation of American Scientists estimates, versus 5,428 for the United States.
Amazing fact
It is estimated that the Soviet Union possessed between 35,000 and 45,000 nuclear warheads at the time of its collapse in 1991. Of these, 3,200 were stationed in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, but were dismantled the following year.
main context
Relations between Russia and its European neighbors and the United States deteriorated in the year following the invasion of Ukraine. The decision to transfer the nuclear warheads to Belarus follows an arrest warrant for Mr Putin by the International Criminal Court, which accuses him of illegally deporting Ukrainian children from their country. Russia denounced the court’s mandate and claims, stressing that it does not support or recognize the International Criminal Court. The possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in its conflict with Ukraine has been raised previously, including by China’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dai Bing, who stated that “nuclear weapons cannot be used, and a nuclear war cannot be waged.” President Joe Biden, who called Russia’s suspension of the START treaty a “big mistake,” said he would not conclude that Russia would use nuclear weapons.
Translated article from the American magazine Forbes – Author: T Roche
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