ST PETERSBURG: Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that tactical nuclear warheads had already been delivered to close ally Belarus, something he confirmed for the first time had already happened, as the United States denounced Putin’s comments that Moscow could “theoretically” use nuclear weapons if there was a threat to its territorial integrity or existence.
Putin, however, stressed he saw no need for Russia to resort to nuclear weapons for now. He made these remarks in his address at the Russia’s flagship St Petersburg International Economic Forum. He said the decision to shift nuclear weapons to Belarus was about “containment” and to remind anyone “thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us”. He said Russia has already stationed a first batch of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Russia’s president, however, told the forum they would only be used if Russia’s territory or state was threatened. On the other side, the US government has said that there was no indication the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine.
“We don’t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after Mr Putin’s comments. It is to mention here that Belarus is a key Russian ally and served as a launchpad for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Putin further said transferring the tactical nuclear warheads would be completed by the end of the summer.
When asked by the forum’s moderator about the possibility of using those weapons, Putin replied: “Why should we threaten the whole world? I have already said that the use of extreme measures is possible in case there is a danger to Russian statehood.”
Tactical nuclear weapons are small nuclear warheads and delivery systems intended for use on the battlefield, or for a limited strike. They are designed to destroy enemy targets in a specific area without causing widespread radioactive fallout.
The smallest tactical nuclear weapons can be one kiloton or less (producing the equivalent to a thousand tonnes of the explosive TNT). The largest ones can be as big as 100 kilotons. By comparison, the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was 15 kilotons.
President Putin is due to meet African leaders in St Petersburg after they visited Kyiv a day earlier on Friday as part of a peace initiative they are presenting to both countries. However, while they were in the city, it came under Russian missile attack. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for de-escalation on both sides and negotiations for peace.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that his country had not changed its nuclear stance as Putin confirmed for the first time that Russia had placed nuclear arms in Belarus. “We have no reason to adjust our own nuclear posture. We don’t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” Blinken said.
Blinken said it was “ironic” that Russia had placed nuclear weapons in Belarus when President Putin had justified his invasion of Ukraine saying he wanted to prevent Kyiv from obtaining such weapons.
“The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus. But only the first ones, the first part. But we will do this job completely by the end of the summer or by the end of the year,” Putin said.
“It is precisely as an element of deterrence so that all those who are thinking about inflicting a strategic defeat on us are not oblivious to this circumstance,” Putin said.
But, for now, Russia had no need to resort to nuclear weapons, he said, adding that talks with the West to reduce Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal were a non-starter.