Expert: nukes in Belarus make NATO strike more likely

May 30, BPN. A Ukrainian military expert has warned that NATO will have to plan for a preemptive strike on a nuclear weapons storage site in Belarus if the country’s authoritarian leader allows Russia to deploy such arms there.

Oleh Zhdanov told 24 Kanal TV that tactical nuclear weapons are meant to break through enemy defenses and are not useful for defensive purposes.

He said hosting them would make Belarus a de facto part of Russia’s military and could force it to adopt the Russian ruble as its currency.

Minsk gave up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons and joined an international nonproliferation treaty in the 1990s.

However, Putin announced in March that Russia was planning to deploy nuclear arms in Belarus, pointing out that the United States has them in several allied countries.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed last week that Moscow alone would control the weapons and decide on their use. Belarusian ruler Alaksandr Łukašenka said the transfer was underway.