Russia will start deploying nuclear warheads to Belarus in July, Vladimir Putin said on Friday, appearing to contradict his ally Alexander Lukashenko who announced last month that this transfer had already begun.
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“As you know, the layout of the facilities (accommodating nuclear weapons) will be completed on July 7 or 8, and we will immediately take steps related to the deployment of the weapons in question on your territory,” Putin said during a meeting. an interview with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi (south-west Russia).
“Everything is going according to plan,” added the Russian president during this exchange, part of which was broadcast live on television.
This deployment should therefore begin just before a NATO summit scheduled for July 11 and 12 in Lithuania, a country bordering Belarus, during which Ukraine’s candidacy will be at the heart of the discussions.
Mr. Putin announced on March 25 that Moscow was going to deploy “tactical” nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, a country located at the gates of the European Union, fueling fears of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
So-called “tactical” nuclear weapons can cause immense damage, but their radius of destruction is more limited than that of “strategic” nuclear weapons.
The announcement had sparked criticism from the international community, Westerners in particular, especially since the Russian leader has since the start of his assault on his Ukrainian neighbor in February 2022 raised the possibility of recourse to atomic weapons. .
In early April, Russia said it had started training Belarusian soldiers in the use of “tactical” nuclear weapons.
At the end of May, Mr. Lukashenko had affirmed that the transfer of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus had already begun.
“The transfer of nuclear charges has started, it has already started,” he said.
Belarus is not directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine but has loaned its territory to the Russian army so that it can launch its assault in February 2022.
After his hotly contested re-election in 2020, Mr Lukashenko, in power for nearly three decades, has grown considerably closer to Moscow, which provides financial, diplomatic and military support to his regime.