Russian President Vladimir Putin is raising eyebrows in the west with a decision to place nuclear weapons closer to the borders of NATO member states.
Putin announced Friday that Russian nuclear weapons would be deployed in Belarus in July, according to Air Force Times.
The dictator made the remarks in a televised appearance from his Black Sea palace in the Russian city of Sochi.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was also present as Putin explained his intention to place nuclear weapons in his country.
“Everything is proceeding as planned,” Putin said of the movement of weapons.
“On July 7-8 the preparations of the relevant facilities will be completed and we will immediately start the activities linked to the deployment of those weapons on [Lukashenko’s] territory.”
Belarus is Russia’s only ally in Europe.
The devices Putin is placing in the country are considered tactical nuclear weapons, according to Reuters.
Such smaller-yield weapons are intended for use in battlefield scenarios, rather than strategic nuclear weapons with the capability to destroy entire cities.
Lukashenko indicated that Russian nuclear weapons were already being moved for the plan, stating they were possibly already in Belarus.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya condemned the development as an attempt of “nuclear blackmail” and intimidation toward Europe, according to the Associated Press.
Putin’s nuclear weapons move comes as the Ukrainian Armed Forces launches a counteroffensive in the country’s south and east, according to ABC News.
White House National Security Advisor John Kirby emphasized in a Friday interview that the United States was taking Putin’s placement of nuclear weapons in Belarus seriously.
However, Kirby indicated the plan wouldn’t change the American posture of forces and nuclear weapons in Europe.
The United States deploys nuclear weapons in Europe on the territory of allied NATO member states.
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