Russia will begin deploying nuclear warheads in Belarus in July, Vladimir Putin said on Friday (June 9th), seeming to contradict his ally Alexander Lukashenko, who announced last month that this transfer had already begun.
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As you know, the development of the facilities (hosting nuclear weapons) will be completed on July 7 or 8, and we will immediately take measures related to the deployment of the weapons in question on your territory," Putin said during talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi (southwestern Russia). "Everything is going according to plan," the Russian president added during the exchange, part of which was broadcast live on television.
"Tactical" nuclear weapons
This deployment should therefore begin just before a NATO summit scheduled for 11th and 12th July in Lithuania, a country bordering Belarus, during which Ukraine's candidacy will be at the heart of discussions. Vladimir Putin announced on 25th March that Moscow would deploy "tactical" nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, a country located at the gates of the European Union, feeding fears of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
So-called "tactical" nuclear weapons can cause immense damage, but their radius of destruction is more limited than that of "strategic" nuclear weapons. The announcement had provoked criticism from the international community, the West in particular, especially since the Russian leader has since the beginning of his assault against his Ukrainian neighbor in February 2022 evoked the possibility of using atomic weapons.
Belarusian rapprochement
In early April, Russia said it had begun training Belarusian servicemen in the use of "tactical" nuclear weapons. At the end of May, Aleksander Lukashenko said that the transfer of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus had already begun. "The transfer of nuclear charges has begun, it has already begun," he said.
Belarus is not directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine but has lent its territory to the Russian army so that it can launch its assault in February 2022. After his hotly contested re-election in 2020, Alexander Lukashenko, in power for nearly three decades, has moved considerably closer to Moscow, which provides financial, diplomatic and military support to his regime.
