KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky’s security adviser warned on Sunday that Moscow’s plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would destabilize Belarus.
“The Kremlin has taken Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” said Oleksiy Danilov, director of the Ukrainian Security and Defense Council, on Twitter.
Oleksiy Danilov believes that the Moscow project marks a step towards the “internal destabilization” of Belarus.
Russia reached an agreement with Belarus on Saturday to install Russian tactical nuclear weapons on its territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Belarus deal will not violate Moscow’s nuclear non-proliferation commitments.
He compared the stationing of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus to the presence of American weapons in Europe.
Washington has put the threat into perspective, with the US Department of Defense saying it has no indication that Russia intends to use these nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
NATO has criticized Russia’s nuclear rhetoric, calling it “dangerous and irresponsible”.
However, the Alliance has indicated that it does not see this as a reason to change its position on nuclear matters.
“NATO is vigilant and closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any change in Russia’s nuclear positioning that would cause us to adjust ours,” NATO’s press service said.
“Russia’s reference to NATO nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies are acting in full respect of their international commitments. Russia has consistently violated its arms control commitments, recently suspending its participation in the New START treaty.
(Report Dan Peleschuk, French version Matthieu Protard)
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