MINSK - President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said today that Russian tactical nuclear weapons are currently in transit to the country
"The movement of the nuclear weapons has already begun" Lukashenko said .
He was asked if any nuclear weapons have already arrived in Belarus.
He replied, “We had to prepare storage facilities and the rest over there [in Belarus]. We’ve done all of that. This is why the relocation of nuclear munitions began,” Lukashenko said during a summit of the Eurasian Economic Forum in Moscow.
The remarks came hours after Russian and Belarusian military officials signed a pact that provides for Moscow to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, marking a shift in the Kremlin’s nuclear posture that could raise the stakes of any future instability in Belarus.
The plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on foreign soil is Russia’s first since 1991. The Kremlin has defended the decision saying that it is being provoked by western powers supporting Ukraine.
Russia has said it will maintain control over the tactical nuclear weapons, which may be launched on Iskander-M missiles or from Su-25 planes, both of which Belarus has in its arsenal. Belarus borders three NATO countries and has missiles that could reach several capitals.
The US also has about 100 such weapons stationed at bases around Europe.
The transfer will further align Russia and Belarus’ militaries as Russia seeks a closer alliance with Minsk, which some have predicted will lead to Belarus’s loss of sovereignty. The Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the two countries would look for other ways to integrate their militaries.
That decision came as Russia is bracing itself for a potential Ukrainian counterattack that could put Moscow on the defensive in its 15-month-old war.
The head of the Wagner group said his Russian paramilitary organization had begun to withdraw from the city of Bakhmut and would hand all its positions over to the regular Russian army by 1 June.
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