Russia’s plans to station nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus pose a threat to Europe from the point of view of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Borrell said in Brussels on Tuesday that the situation is escalating without having achieved anything. His latest nuclear poker game is a direct threat to European security. Just over a week ago, Borrell wrote on Twitter: “The EU is ready to respond with further sanctions.”
Kremlin chief Putin had announced that he would station tactical nuclear weapons in the neighboring ex-Soviet republic of Belarus because of the high tensions with the West as a result of the Ukraine war. He justified this by saying that the USA had been doing something similar in Europe for years.
Moscow’s ambassador in Minsk, Boris Gryzlov, announced on Sunday that the weapons should be placed on the border with Poland. The bunkers required for storing the weapons should therefore be completed by July 1st. “This will happen despite the noise in Europe and the US,” said Gryzlov, a former Russian interior minister and chairman of the Duma, according to the Belta agency.
Military begins training
Training on tactical nuclear weapons has already begun for soldiers from Belarus. “The crews of the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile complex of the Belarusian missile forces went to Russia for practical training,” the Ministry of Defense said in Minsk.
The most important training content of the training at one of the Russian military training areas is practical knowledge in the preparation of the rockets. “Furthermore, the crews will study in detail the issues of maintenance and deployment of the Iskander-M tactical nuclear warheads,” it said.
Russia confirms it will have nuclear weapons
Meanwhile, Russia has confirmed that it has handed over a nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile complex to neighboring Belarus. “Some of the Belarusian aircraft of the fighter squadrons have been given the opportunity to strike enemy objects with nuclear weapons,” said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in Moscow.
According to Shoigu, Iskander-M missiles can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. The minister described the rearmament of the allied neighboring country as a reaction to western arms deliveries to Ukraine. Under these circumstances, Moscow strengthens the security of the union state between Russia and Belarus. Shoigu was convinced that Russia would win the war of aggression against Ukraine, which Moscow only calls military special operations.
The deployment of the weapons aggravated strained relations between Russia and the West. Putin said the deployment does not conflict with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which bans the proliferation of nuclear weapons, as Russia retains full control over the missiles. Lukashenko raised doubts when he claimed control of nuclear weapons in his address to the nation.
