Russia to Deploy Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

Long-standing allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko playing hockey together on Feb.7, 2020. Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. Putin said that Russia already deployed 10 aircraft capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, and will finish the construction of a storage facility for such weapons in Belarus by July. He also stressed that the Kremlin is not intending to give up its nuclear weapons to Belarus, but is rather placing them on its territory. “The US has been doing this for decades, they placed tactical nuclear weapons with their allies a long time ago. We will do the same,” he said.

So what does the placement of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus mean, in the global context? Pavel Aksenov, a correspondent for the BBC Defense Service, believes it is a step towards escalating the military conflict in Ukraine. 

“Unlike Russia, the United States, although it keeps TNWs in storage facilities [in European countries], is not involved in a big and bloody war on the European continent and does not use these weapons as an argument in a political confrontation with the Russians,” Aksenov wrote. Keeping weapons at home and pointing them at people are different things, even from the point of view of the Criminal Code.”

The same opinion was expressed by Josep Borrell, head of the EU Foreign Affairs Ministry, in his Twitter, noting that “hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation & threat to European security.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urged members of the global society “to take a firm stance and strongly reject another nuclear provocations by Putin`s criminal regime and to take decisive measures to effectively deter and prevent any possible use of nuclear weapons by the aggressor state.”

A gathering of Ukrainian supporters marking the one-year anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in Paris on Feb. 24. Photo: Michel Euler/AP

In turn, the U.S. authorities reacted rather modestly, claiming that they would not change the operation of their strategic nuclear forces after Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement.

“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indication Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson declared. “We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance.”

Political analyst Ivan Preobrazhensky explains that such a US reaction is quite justified, because tactical nuclear weapons, like the Iskanders, have already been deployed, and that the world is most likely getting a statement of what has already happened. “Everyone is well aware that these Tactical Nuclear Weapons are being placed there for symbolic reasons rather than for military reasons,” Many members of the global community, including the US, understand the improbability of influencing Russia's behavior, or ending  Russia’s attempts to put military and technical pressure on NATO member states.