(Kyiv) Ukraine on Sunday accused Russia of having taken Belarus “hostage” after Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow will deploy “tactical” nuclear missiles on the territory of its ally, at the gates of the Union European.
Over the past year, Russian officials have multiplied barely veiled threats to use nuclear weapons if the conflict with Kyiv were to experience a significant escalation. Belarus borders Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania.
“The Kremlin has taken Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” Ukrainian Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov wrote on Twitter, adding that Putin’s decision is a “step towards the internal destabilization of the country”.
Moscow’s announcement “maximizes the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Mr. Putin in Belarusian society”, also argued Mr. Danilov.
Westerners had not yet reacted to Mr. Putin’s plans on Sunday.
On Saturday, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would deploy “tactical” nuclear weapons in Belarus and that ten planes had already been equipped to be ready to use this kind of weaponry.
There is nothing unusual here: the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies.
Vladimir Putin, in an interview on Russian television
“We have agreed to do the same”, he added, saying that he planned to “train the crews” from April 3 and to “complete the construction of a special warehouse for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus » 1er July.
Uranium shells
Mr Putin “admits he is afraid of losing [la guerre] and that all he can do is scare, ”Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak said on Twitter on Sunday.
He also accused the Russian leader of “violating the nuclear non-proliferation treaty”.
Mr. Putin, during his announcement, had specified that this deployment in Belarus would be done “without contravening our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation”.
While Belarus is not directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, Moscow used its territory to conduct its offensive on Kyiv last year or to carry out strikes, according to Ukrainian authorities.
PHOTO ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service in December 2022, Russian soldiers take part in exercises at an unspecified location in Belarus.
Vladimir Putin motivated his decision on Saturday by the United Kingdom’s desire to send depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine, as recently mentioned by a British official.
Mr. Putin threatened to also use this type of shell, used to pierce armor, if Kyiv were to receive any.
He called this type of weapon shell among “the most dangerous” and which “generates what is called radiation dust”.
During recent negotiations in Moscow between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, the two leaders had stated in a joint statement that a nuclear war “must never be started”, because “there can be no winners”.
Several Russian officials, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, have however threatened Ukraine and Westerners with nuclear weapons since the start of the Russian offensive launched on February 24, 2022.
Russia also suspended last month the important New Start nuclear disarmament treaty signed with the United States, although it promised to respect the limitation of its nuclear arsenal until the effective end of this agreement on 5 February 2026.
Russian nuclear doctrine does not provide for the preventive use by Russia of nuclear weapons, but only in response to an attack on it or its allies, or in the event of a “threat to the very existence of the state”.