Putin claims Russian nuclear weapons are already in Belarus
On Friday 16 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the first Russian tactical nuclear warheads are already in Belarus, and the final transfer will be completed by the end of the year.
Source: Putin said this at the St Petersburg Economic Forum, reports European Pravda
Quote: "As you know, we negotiated with our allied state, [Belarusian – ed.] President Lukashenko that we will move some of the tactical nuclear weapons to Belarusian territory. It happened. The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus," the Russian president said.
He added that "by the end of the summer, by the end of the year," all Russian nuclear weapons that are due to be transferred will be on the territory of Belarus.
"We will carry out this goal till the end. It's like an element of deterrence. So that everyone who thinks about inflicting strategic defeat on us does not forget about this circumstance," Putin said.
Background:
- On 25 May, the defence ministers of Russia and Belarus signed documents on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. On the same day, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, said that Russia's nuclear weapons had already begun to be transferred to Belarus.
- On Wednesday 14 June, Lukashenko said his country had begun receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons; some warheads, he claimed, are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
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