Russia responded to U.S. President Joe Biden's criticism of its plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on Saturday by pointing to the decades-long deployment of such weapons in Europe by Washington.
Russia said on Thursday that it was moving forward with the first deployment of these weapons outside of its borders since 1991, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the weapons were already moving.
Biden said on Friday he had an "extremely negative" response to reports that Russia has pushed forward with an arrangement to send strategic atomic weapons in Belarus.
The Russian plan for nuclear deployment was condemned by the US State Department.
"It is the sovereign right of Russia and Belarus to ensure their security by means we deem necessary amidst of a large-scale hybrid war unleashed by Washington against us," Russia's embassy in the United States said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
"The measures we undertake are fully consistent with our international legal obligations."
Because of remarks made by President Vladimir Putin during the conflict in Ukraine, the United States has claimed that the world faces the greatest nuclear threat since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. However, Moscow claims that the United States' position has been misunderstood.
Putin has repeatedly warned that Russia, which has more nuclear weapons than any other country, will use any means necessary to defend itself. He has described the conflict in Ukraine as a battle for Russia's survival against an aggressive West.
The yield of tactical nuclear weapons, which are used for tactical gains on the battlefield, is typically lower than that of strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed to destroy cities in the United States, Europe, or Russia.
"Before blaming others, Washington could use some introspection," the Russian Embassy stated, referring to the U.S. criticism of Moscow's planned deployment as hypocritical.
"The United States has been for decades maintaining a large arsenal of its nuclear weapons in Europe. Together with its NATO allies it participates in nuclear sharing arrangements and trains for scenarios of nuclear weapons use against our country."
The US has sent atomic weapons in Western Europe since U.S. President Dwight D Eisenhower approved their sending in the Cold War as a counter to the apparent danger from the Soviet Association.
In 1954, the United States deployed its first nuclear weapons in Europe in Britain.
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