US reacts to Russia's move to bring tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

RT TV channel quoted Secretary of State Antony Blinken as saying on June 16 that the US has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use its nuclear arsenal in Belarus. Blinken's statement came shortly after the Kremlin revealed that it had deployed its first tactical nuclear warheads to neighboring Belarus.

However, the US Secretary of State also criticized Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko for allowing Russia to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory.

For his part, President Lukashenko has repeatedly explained that he personally asked Russia to deploy weapons to strengthen Belarus' security in the face of NATO's expansion.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that the first low-yield nuclear warheads had arrived in Belarus, a country with which Russia has a defense treaty.

The Kremlin argues that the move is similar to what the US has been doing for decades: storing part of its nuclear arsenal in non-nuclear states, such as Türkiye, Italy or Belgium.

This is the first time Moscow has deployed short-range nuclear weapons outside Russian territory since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Speaking at SPIEF, Mr Putin said that Russia did not need to use tactical nuclear weapons at the moment. He reiterated that Moscow would only use its strategic arsenal in the face of an existential threat.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper