Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he has deployed nuclear weapons to Belarus, which he said was a warning sign to those considering “inflicting a strategic defeat on us.”
Putin confirmed the nuclear deployment in Belarus — the first time Moscow has staged nukes in another country since the fall of the Soviet Union — on Friday during an economic forum in St. Petersburg.
The Russian leader said the warheads had already been moved to Belarus, but added that he saw no reason to resort to using them for now.
“As you know we were negotiating with our ally, (Belarusian President Alexander (Lukashenko), that we would move a part of these tactical nuclear weapons to the territory of Belarus – this has happened,” Putin said.
“The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus,” he added. “But only the first ones, the first part. But we will do this job completely by the end of the summer or by the end of the year.”
Speaking at Russia’s flagship economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin said Russian tactical nuclear warheads had already been delivered to close ally Belarus. via REUTERSLukashenko, one of Putin’s strongest supporters, said Tuesday that his country has received nuclear weapons that include some warheads three times more powerful than the bombs used by the US in Japan in 1945.
The confirmation comes after Putin announced in March that he would deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, while pointing to the US’s staging of such weapons in various European countries for decades.
The U.S. has criticized Putin’s decision while saying it has no intention of altering its own stance on nuclear weapons.
Putin speaks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on June 9. Putin said Russian tactical nuclear warheads had already been delivered to close ally Belarus, AP
The Russian leader announced in March he had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, pointing to the US deployment of such weapons in a host of European countries over many decades. Vlad Karkov / SOPA Images/Sipa USA
Lukashenko at his visit to the missile production enterprise in Minsk region, Belarus on June 13, 2023. APThe Russian leader also scoffed at Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which kicked off earlier this month, claiming that Kyiv’s forces were running out of equipment and stood “no chance” against Moscow’s military.
“As for demilitarisation, soon Ukraine will stop using its own equipment altogether,” Putin said. “There’s nothing left. Everything on which they fight and everything that they use is brought in from the outside. Well, you can’t fight like that for long.”
He went on to threaten that Russia would destroy any F-16 fighter jets Ukraine may get from its allies.
“F-16s will also be burning, there is no doubt,” Putin said. “But if they will be stationed outside Ukraine and used in combat operations we will have to look at how to engage and where to engage those assets being used in combat operations against us.”
Meanwhile, Putin said the decision to ship fighter jets to Ukraine represented a “serious danger” of pulling NATO further into the conflict.
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