President Vladimir Putin of Russia said on Saturday, he is going to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neigbouring Belarus which is just at the gates of the European Union.
“The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies,” Putin said.
President Putin said the move to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was “nothing unusual.”
The Russian leader also said he spoke to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and said “we agreed to do the same.”
He added that Russia had helped equip Belarusian planes “without violating our international agreements on nuclear-non-proliferation… 10 planes are ready for this type of weapon to be used.”
Russia has given Belarus an Iskander system that can carry nuclear weapons, Putin also said.
It will start training crews on April 3 and plans to finish the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons by July 1.
Putin also said that Russia would respond if the West supplied Ukraine with depleted uranium ammunition.
“Russia of course has what it needs to answer. Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands of such shells. We have not used them yet,” Putin added in an interview on Russian television.
He said the weapons “can be classified as the most harmful and hazardous for humans… and also for the environment.”
Depleted uranium munitions are highly effective at piercing armour plate, but their use is controversial.
The metal is toxic for the soldiers who use the weapons and for civilians in areas where they are fired.
Putin has previously said nuclear tensions were “rising” globally but said Moscow would not deploy first.
