2023-06-10 05:51:34
As you know, the development of the facilities (accommodating nuclear weapons) will be completed on July 7 or 8, and we will immediately take measures related to the deployment of the weapons in question on your territory.
said Mr. Putin during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi (southwest of 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 discussions.
Mr Putin announced on March 25 that Moscow would deploy nuclear weapons tactics
on the territory of Belarus, a country on the doorstep of the European Union, fueling fears of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
The so-called nuclear weapons tactics
can cause immense damage, but their radius of destruction is more limited than that of nuclear weapons strategic
.
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 begun, it has already begun
he said.
Belarus is not directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine, but it 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.
1686380813
#Russia #deploy #tactical #nuclear #weapons #Belarus #early #July #War #Ukraine