Russia will not inform the US about the number of Russian nuclear warheads stationed on the territory of Belarus, nor about the tests of its new Poseidon nuclear torpedo, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Ryabkov said on Friday, the Interfax agency cites. according to Reuters.

Moscow and Minsk say Belarus has already begun receiving Russian short-range tactical nuclear weapons, which President Vladimir Putin has publicly promised to deploy as tensions with the West rise over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I deeply doubt that this topic will become a subject of public discussion or disclosure from our side. The US has kept its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of some European countries for decades and has never given exact numbers about them,” Ryabkov told reporters at a press conference in Sochi, a resort on Russia’s Black Sea coast.

What is Poseidon?

Short-range weapons are not covered by the New NPT Treaty, the latest arms control pact between the US and Russia that limits the strategic nuclear arsenals of the two countries. Putin suspended Russia’s participation, although both sides pledged to continue to respect the limits set by the treaty.

There is no longer a treaty or verification mechanism that covers autonomous nuclear-powered torpedoes like the Poseidon, and Ryabkov said Russia has no intention of informing the US of the system’s tests.

US and Russian officials describe the Poseidon as a new category of retaliation weapon, a cross between a torpedo and an underwater drone capable of spewing radioactive ocean waves to attack naval battle groups or render coastal cities uninhabitable.

In January, the official TASS news agency reported, citing an unidentified defense source, that Russia had produced the first set of Poseidon torpedoes to equip the Belgorod nuclear submarine.

In April, TASS reported that Russia wants to form a division of special submarines in the Pacific Fleet that will carry Poseidon torpedoes by the end of 2024 or in the first half of 2025. (Source: Agerpres)