Russia has stationed a number of nuclear weapons in Belarus and plans to deploy them as soon as next month.
By early July, Moscow will have sent an undisclosed number of tactical nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus and testing will begin "immediately".
Tyrant Vladimir Putin discussed the worrying military development during an informal meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Luksashenko today.
Russia and Belarus signed a deal at the end of May which formalised the nuclear arrangement.
Though the weapons are to be stationed on Belarusian soil, they will remain under the control of the Kremlin.
Putin announced the deployment of the shorter-range weapons in Belarus earlier this year in a move widely seen as a warning to the West as it stepped up military support for Ukraine.
At the time, the date of deployment hadn't been announced, but Putin confirmed a massive construciton project was underway to build facilities to safely store the world-ending weapons.
Also unclear is how many nuclear weapons would be kept in Belarus. The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.
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.
Back in May, Lukashenko said “the movement of the nuclear weapons has begun,” but was not clear whether any actually had arrived in his country.
Lukashenko, who sparked rumors of being seriously ill when he cut short a Victory Day appearance in Red Square on May 9 before resurfacing in public May 15, was attending a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council with Putin and leaders of Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
The signing of the deal came as Russia prepared for a counteroffensive by Ukraine. Both Russian and Belarusian officials also framed the step as driven by hostilities from the West.
“Deployment of nonstrategic nuclear weapons is an effective response to the aggressive policy of countries unfriendly to us,” Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said in Minsk at a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu.
“In the context of an extremely sharp escalation of threats on the western borders of Russia and Belarus, a decision was made to take countermeasures in the military-nuclear sphere,” Shoigu added.
Putin has argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States, noting that the U.S. has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
