United States sees no signs of Russian nukes being moved to Belarus – senior official

June 10, BPN. Vladimir Putin’s latest statements on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus are another example of “reckless and irresponsible rhetoric,” the US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN.

“A nuclear war should never be fought, can never be won. We’ve been very clear about that,” he said noting that the United States cannot ignore such threats. “We have to take it seriously coming from a country like Russia,” he stressed.

“We’re doing the best we can to monitor,” Kirby said. “We don’t see anything out there that shows us that there is an imminent indication of movement of nuclear capabilities or imminent risk of nuclear war inside Ukraine or even on the continent. We’ve seen nothing that would cause us to change our own deterrent posture.”

On June 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that tactical nuclear weapons will be deployed in Belarus after July 7 as soon as necessary storage facilities are ready.

On May 25, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu signed the terms of operation of nuclear storage. Shoigu said that Moscow alone would control the weapons and decide on their use.

The Belarusian opposition is critical of Russian nuclear plans in Belarus and urges other countries to help prevent this from happening.