NATO criticized Moscow for its “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, reported POLITICO.
“NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own,” Oana Lungescu, spokesperson for the defense alliance, said in a tweet.
The spokesperson criticized comments from Putin on Saturday that likened the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus to the U.S. stationing its nuclear arms in Europe as part of the NATO alliance.
“Russia’s reference to NATO’s nuclear sharing is totally misleading,” Lungescu said. “NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments,” the spokesperson said. “Russia has consistently broken its arms-control commitments, most recently suspending its participation in the New START Treaty.”
Belarus borders on three NATO members: Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
The Polish Foreign Ministry on Sunday said Putin’s announcement “further increases tensions over Russian aggression against Ukraine. It is a further step towards drawing Belarus into the cogs of the Russian war machine,” the ministry said in a tweet.
Warsaw also echoed concerns about a violation of nuclear non-proliferation agreements, something that Putin specifically denied in his announcement on Saturday. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, made a similar charge in a tweet, adding in reference to Putin: “Making a statement about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, he admits that he is afraid of losing.”
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, charged that Russia “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.”
The U.S. said it would “monitor the implications” of the Russian move but would not adjust its nuclear weapons strategy.
“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. “We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance.”
Putin said on Saturday that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has agreed to the deployment and that the Kremlin would not transfer control of the nuclear arms to Minsk. Moscow has already stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, he said.
Russia used Belarus as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine for Putin’s invasion of the country in February 2022. Moscow and Minsk have maintained close military ties as the Kremlin continues its war on Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Brussels stands ready to impose new sanctions on Belarus if Minsk were to house Putin’s nuclear arms. “Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security,” Borrell said in a tweet on Sunday. “Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Sunday appealed for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in reaction to Putin’s announcement. This followed earlier condemnations of the Russian move by Ukrainian officials.
“Ukraine expects effective actions to counteract the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail from the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France. … We demand that an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council be immediately convened for this purpose,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.