Ryabkov: Russia will not disclose data on the number of nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russia does not plan to publish information on the number of tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) supplied to Belarus. This was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov.

Ryabkov added that he doubted that the topic of deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would become the subject of public discussion and “exposure on our part.”

“I want to say that for decades the United States has been keeping its tactical nuclear weapons in a number of European countries, and they never give exact numbers – all these are some estimated parameters, some calculations of experts, God knows who. Why do we have to unilaterally announce something like that?” – answered diplomat to the question whether Russia plans to publish data on the number of charges (quote from RIA Novosti).

The first Russian nuclear warheads have already been delivered to the territory of Belarus, declared June 16 at the plenary session SPIEF Russian President Vladimir Putin. The deployment of weapons in Belarus will begin after July 7-8, when the preparation of the relevant structures is completed.

According to Aleksey Polishchuk, director of the second department of the CIS countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the presence of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus is not limited in time. He notedthat it can be returned to Russia, provided that the United States and NATO abandon the course “to undermine the security and sovereignty of Russia and Belarus.”

At the end of May, Russian and Belarusian defense ministers Sergei Shoigu and Viktor Khrenin signed documents defining the procedure for keeping Russian nuclear weapons in a special storage facility on the territory of the republic. Shoigu cited the activity of NATO’s joint nuclear missions as the reasons for this decision, including the training of pilots of non-nuclear countries of the alliance in the use of American nuclear bombs stored in Europe.