US think tank: Russia deploying nukes to secure control over Belarus

June 20, BPN. Russia intends to keep tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus “on a permanent basis,” says a recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

“Russia will likely keep tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus in order to consolidate de facto control of Belarus,” the analysts said noting that their deployment is “extraordinarily unlikely to have battlefield impacts in Ukraine.”

On June 19, Alexei Polishchuk of the Russian foreign ministry said that agreements between Minsk and Moscow on the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus were of unlimited duration. Russia may remove nuclear arms from Belarus if the United States and NATO stop undermining the security and sovereignty of Russia and Belarus and eliminate nuclear infrastructures in Europe, he said.

Alaksandr Łukašenka said last week that he would be ready to use nuclear weapons “immediately” and without hesitation in response to aggression against his country. On June 13, he said that a part of the Russian nuclear arsenal had been delivered from Russia to Belarus but admitted that the deployment was proceeding at a slow pace and Belarus has not yet received all “bombs and missiles.”

On June 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the first nuclear warheads had arrived in Belarus.

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