In a major development, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Friday, confirmed that the first batch of tactical nuclear weapons has already been stationed in Belarus. The confirmation from Putin came nearly 10 days after he laid a timeline for deploying the nuke arms. Although during his last announcement, he mentioned that the deployment would be completed as soon as the adaptation work at the relevant storage facilities was completed, it wasn't expected before the first week of July.
However, the latest announcement from the Russian President came as he was hosting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which began on Wednesday and continues through Saturday. "The move was about containment and to remind anyone thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us," BBC quoted Putin as saying.
"Will use only, if.."
However, during the mega event, Putin asserted that it would 'only' be used if Russia's territory or state was threatened.
"Why should we threaten the whole world? I have already said that the use of extreme measures is possible in case there is a danger to Russian statehood," said Putin When asked about the possibility of using those weapons.
Notably, "tactical nuclear" weapons are intended to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield. They have a relatively short range and a much lower yield than nuclear warheads fitted to long-range strategic missiles that are capable of obliterating whole cities.
Watch full video here:
http://www.en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71445/videos#
Not violating any international laws: Putin
Notably, in March this year, President Putin announced the stationing of its nuclear weapons in Minsk-- despite West and European Union stringent warnings. While announcing its dangerous move, he argued that Moscow will be doing what the United States has done for decades by putting its nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
The President alleged the Russian move doesn’t violate an international treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons, even though Moscow has argued before that Washington has breached the pact by deploying them on the territory of its NATO allies.
During the announcement, he also mentioned that Moscow helped upgrade 10 Belarusian aircraft to allow them to carry nuclear weapons and their crews would start training to use them from April 3. He noted Russia also has given Belarus the Iskander short-range missile systems that can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads. However, since then, no details were emerged over whether Putin had deployed any nuked weapons or not.
What does deployment mean to ongoing war?
According to AP, the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which shares a 1,084-kilometer border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It would also extend Russia’s capability to target several NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe.
