NATO’s Stoltenberg, USA’s Sherman note Russian nuclear plan for Belarus in conference

April 18, BPN. Russia aims to “dismantle arms control and undermine strategic stability,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said in Washington.

Addressing the bloc’s annual arms control conference, he pointed to Russia suspending its participation in the New START Treaty, noncomplying with the INF Treaty, and threatening to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The secretary-general noted that Russia was also resorting to provocative rhetoric. Such “irresponsible” actions are designed to deter NATO from supporting Ukraine, but they will not work, he said.

Stoltenberg went on to call Russia “the most direct threat” to the security of the bloc, also noting challenges posed by Iran, China, and North Korea.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Vladimir Putin’s plan to station nuclear weapons in Belarus “is his effort to use this threat in a managed way” and “a dangerous escalation.”

“We all must react, we must all call it out,” she said.

Last month, Putin said Russia plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. He also claimed that Russia will honor its non-proliferation commitments.

“We don’t pass [nuclear weapons to Belarus]. And the USA does not pass them to its allies. Basically, we do everything that it has been doing for decades. It has them in certain allied countries, preparing their carriers and their crews,” he said.

The West and Belarusian democratic forces denounced this plan, while China opposed using nuclear weapons or fighting nuclear wars.