On Monday, a senior Russian official told TASS that Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons deployment in Belarus is permanent.
In March, Russia sent tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, a key ally that supported Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. President Alexander Lukashenko said the weaponry arrived last month.
Moscow’s first deployment of such warheads—shorter-range, less destructive nuclear weapons that could be deployed on the battlefield—outside Russia since the demise of the Soviet Union.
“As for the possible time frame for the presence of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, the Russian-Belarusian agreements do not imply any restrictions in this regard,” said Alexei Polishchuk, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of former Soviet states, in an interview with TASS.
Polishchuk said the weapons might be evacuated from Belarus if the US and NATO “refrained from undermining the security and sovereignty of Russia and Belarus.”
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