Russia will regularly deploy nuclear weapons near Belarus' border with NATO, Boris Griazlov, the country's ambassador in Minsk, said yesterday, an announcement that comes amid a further escalation of Russia's conflict with the West.
Russian President Vladimir Putin first announced on 26 March that Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed on the territory of the neighbouring and allied country, 13 months after the start of the war in Ukraine, an announcement that was described as a clear message addressed to the West.
The two Slavic neighbouring countries have signed a «union» agreement and have been negotiating for years for further integration. The process was accelerated after Minsk decided to allow Moscow to use Belarusian territory when it launched its attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
The weapons will be deployed in the «western part» of Belarus in order to «guarantee the security» of «our union», Mr. Grislov told Belarusian state television. «This will be done despite the noise from Europe and the US,» he added.
The ambassador refrained from giving details of the locations where nuclear weapons will be deployed, but confirmed that a storage facility will be completed by July 1, as ordered by Mr Putin, in western Belarus.
Belarus is bordered to the north by Lithuania and Latvia and to the west by Poland - three members of NATO's eastern wing, which were reinforced by the deployment of additional troops and equipment after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The US and other allies of Kiev have expressed their opposition to the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. US President Joe Biden has called the prospect «alarming».
Minsk made clear on Friday that it would allow Moscow to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles on Belarusian territory if necessary.
New submarine command with «Poseidon» torpedoes»
Moreover, the Russian Navy intends to form a new command of submarines, which will be equipped with torpedoes capable of carrying nuclear charges, of the «Poseidon» type, and will belong to the Russian Pacific Fleet, around the end of 2024 or the first half of 2025 at the latest, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Moscow announced in January that it had produced its first Neptune torpedoes, four years after President Putin unveiled this completely new type of strategic nuclear weapon when he confirmed that it would have its own nuclear engine.
In late March, he said that the coastal infrastructure for torpedo-bearing submarines of the type will be completed on the Kamchatka Peninsula, where the Pacific Fleet's ballistic missile submarine bases are located.
It was decided to form a new «special purpose» command, a source close to the defence ministry, who was not named, told TASS. The timetable envisages that it will be formed «around December 2024 or the first half of 2025».
Very little is known about the torpedo «Poseidon». Analysts speak of a hybrid torpedo and unmanned unmanned underwater vehicle, launched from a nuclear submarine.
