U.S. Unmoved by Putin’s Plans to Station Tactical Atomic Weapons in Belarus

The United States has not seen any reason to adjust its own strategic nuclear posture after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, according to National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.

The move, which Putin announced in a television interview that aired on Saturday, is the first time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union that Russia has based such weapons outside the country. Putin argued that the deployment was triggered by a U.K. decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

In response, Ukraine’s government has called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to “counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail.” One Ukrainian official said that Russia “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.”

The Iskander-M missiles, which have a range of up to 300 miles and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, are the weapons in question. Moscow has said it is making the move in response to the West’s increasing military support for Ukraine.

The United States has nuclear weapons stationed in Europe, but Watson said the U.S. has not seen any indications that Russia is preparing to use its weapons. It is unclear how the U.N. Security Council meeting will address the situation.