Transatlantic military alliance, NATO has slammed Vladimir Putin after he announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus .
Putin said his plan to send tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was similar to the United States stationing its weapons in Europe, insisting that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.
The move is one of Russia’s most pronounced nuclear signals yet and a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine, which has called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in response.
‘Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible,’ NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday, March 26.
‘NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own.’
Lungescu said Putin’s non-proliferation pledge and his description of U.S. weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark.
‘Russia’s reference to NATO’s nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments,’ she added in a statement.
‘Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments.’
Russia and Belarus have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging point for the latter’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Germany has slammed Russian plans to deploy nukes in Belarus.
A German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Monday lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for his plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
We see the Russian announcement as ‘another attempt at nuclear intimidation and we consider this rhetoric to be irresponsible and expressly reject it,’ Andrea Sasse told reporters in Berlin.
Sasse vowed to continue her country’s steadfast support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
