Documents on Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus signed
Russia is implementing plans regarding the deployment of its nuclear weapons (NW) in Belarus. On Thursday, May 25, the defense ministers of the two countries, Sergei Shoigu and Viktor Khrenin, signed in Minsk “documents defining the procedure for keeping Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons in a special storage facility on the territory of the Republic of Belarus,” the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus said.
According to Shoigu, the measures implemented by Russia and Belarus “fulfill all existing international legal obligations”. He stressed that Russia, by deploying non-strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus, does not transfer them to Minsk, and that control over nuclear weapons and the decision on their use remains with Moscow. In turn, Khrenin called the nuclear weapons of the Russian Federation in Belarus “a response to the aggressive policy of hostile countries”, which should remind “the inadmissibility of a further escalation of the situation in the region.” In addition, the ministers “discussed the military-political situation and military-technical cooperation issues” between their departments.
EU: Moscow-Minsk deal is a new provocation
“Certainly, this is not a step towards de-escalation or reduction of tensions,” said the spokesman for the European Union’s Foreign Service, Peter Stano, when asked by DW about the agreement signed by Moscow and Minsk on the deployment of the Russian nuclear arsenal in Belarus. He called this agreement a new provocation against the background of the illegal aggression of Russia and Belarus, cooperating with her in this. “Of course the EU will follow its implementation very closely and respond accordingly,” Stano said at a briefing in Brussels on May 25.
Construction of storage facility for TNW
On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia, at Minsk’s request, would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Belarus, noting that the United States had long acted in a similar way on the territory of its allied countries. . The construction of a storage facility for TNW in Belarus is expected to be completed on July 1st.
Moscow has already handed Minsk the Iskander missile system, which can carry nuclear weapons, and has helped to refit Belarusian aircraft to use special ammunition. The Belarusian military received adequate training in Russia.
Source: DW
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