West's reaction won't change plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus: Kremlin

Kremlin said on Monday (March 27) that Russia won't change its plans of deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, the neighbouring nation and a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, despite the growing criticisms globally. West has slammed Putin's announcement, with Ukraine even seeking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the move.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Such a reaction of course cannot influence Russian plans."

Recently, Putin talked about tactical nuclear weapons in a televised interview and said that Russia would deploy the weapons "without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation". Putin even stated that he spoke to his Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko and that they had "agreed to do the same".

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The latest development has led to concerns over the nuclear escalation and also sparked fears that Belarus may join its ally's offensive, but Lukashenko said he would do so "only if attacked".

"Nothing unusual," said Putin, further arguing that the United States has been doing this for decades. "They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies," Putin added.

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A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian plans would destabilise Belarus, a nation which had been taken "hostage" by Moscow, as per the official.

On the other hand, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States had seen no sign that Putin had moved any nuclear weapons.

Kirby told US broadcaster CBS on Sunday: "We've in fact seen no indication that he has any intention to use nuclear weapons – period - inside Ukraine."

For the unversed, tactical nuclear weapons are powerful but they are slightly smaller. However, they can be used on the battlefield. In a report, the news agency Reuters explained the tactical nuclear weapons. The report mentioned academics and arms control negotiators have spent years arguing about how to define tactical nuclear weapons and the clue is in the name: they are nuclear weapons used for specific tactical gains on the battlefield, rather than, say, destroying the biggest cities of the US or Russia.

(With inputs from agencies)

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