Peskov: the reaction of the West will not affect the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus

The reaction of Western countries cannot change Russia’s plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, said at a briefing.

“Such a reaction, of course, cannot change Russia’s plans. The President explained everything in his statements, which he made in an interview on Saturday. There is nothing to add to this,” he said.

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the completion of the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Belarus by July of this year. The President noted that Moscow is not transferring nuclear weapons to Minsk, but is doing what the United States has been doing for many years – deploying tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of allies and training their pilots in handling them.

“They have allies in certain countries and train their carriers and crews. We are going to do the same. It’s about this [президент Белоруссии] Alexander Grigorievich [Лукашенко] and asked,” Putin said.

In the US presidential administration after the statement of the Russian president notedthat they see no signs that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons. In this regard, Washington sees no reason to adjust its strategic nuclear forces.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, in turn, demanded that a meeting of the UN Security Council be convened to discuss plans for deploying nuclear arsenals in Belarus. Josep Borrell, head of the European Union’s foreign policy service, said that the EU would be ready to impose new sanctions if Russia deploys tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The Polish Foreign Ministry condemned Russia’s plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, calling it “an increased threat to peace in Europe and around the world,” writes PAP, while the German Foreign Ministry called Putin’s statement “an ongoing attempt at nuclear intimidation.”