Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus' borders with NATO

One of Russia's most prominent nuclear signals since its invasion of Ukraine 13 month ago, President Vladimir Putin stated on March 26th that Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Both Slav neighbors are officially part of a "union" state and have been in talks for many years to further integrate. This process has been accelerated since Minsk allowed Moscow access to Belarusian territory last year to send troops to Ukraine.

Boris Gryzlov (Russian ambassador to Belarus) stated that the weapons would be moved to the west border of the union state, increasing the security possibilities.

"This will be done, despite all the noise from America and Europe."

Gryzlov didn't specify the location of the weapons, but he confirmed that a storage facility would be built, as Putin ordered, by July 1, and then moved to West Belarus.

Belarus borders to the west with Poland and Lithuania to its north, while Poland borders to the west with Latvia and Lithuania to its east. These countries are all part NATO's Eastern flank. They were all bolstered by additional troops and military gear following Russia's invasion.

According to the U.S. and Kyiv, they are concerned that Russia might send tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) to Belarus. President Joe Biden stated it was "worrisome".

On Friday (31 March), President Alexander Lukashenko stated that Belarus would allow Russia to place intercontinental nu missiles there if necessary.

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