{"id":625006,"date":"2023-04-02T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/02\/should-we-be-worried-by-putins-plan-to-station-nukes-in-belarus-probably-not\/"},"modified":"2023-04-02T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T09:00:00","slug":"should-we-be-worried-by-putins-plan-to-station-nukes-in-belarus-probably-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/02\/should-we-be-worried-by-putins-plan-to-station-nukes-in-belarus-probably-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Should we be worried by Putin’s plan to station nukes in Belarus? Probably not"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a>\u2019s latest round of nuclear saber rattling<\/a> has drawn concern and condemnation from the West, but his promise to station tactical nuclear weapons<\/a> in Belarus may do more to expose the Kremlin\u2019s weakness than shift the dynamics of the war in Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s announcement that he would deploy the weapons on the territory of Moscow\u2019s trusted neighbor and ally \u2014 which comes as Russia\u2019s military is struggling to claim any new successes on the battlefield \u2014 was decried as \u201cdangerous and irresponsible\u201d<\/a> by NATO, while Kyiv said<\/a> it threatened \u201cthe international security system as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the move is most likely just the latest attempt to use nuclear threats to intimidate Ukraine\u2019s allies, military analysts said, and it may not just widen the ever-growing chasm between Moscow and the West but potentially test Russia\u2019s growing friendship with China<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Putin made the announcement<\/a> in an interview that aired Saturday night on Russian state TV, where he said storing the country\u2019s tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus \u2014 which borders three NATO members, as well as both Russia and Ukraine \u2014 did not violate nuclear nonproliferation agreements and would, in fact, mirror Washington\u2019s stationing its nuclear weapons in Europe<\/a> for decades.<\/p>\n

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko<\/a>, a staunch ally whom Putin propped up after violent protests nearly toppled \u201cEurope\u2019s last dictator\u201d in 2020, had long requested the move, Putin added.<\/p>\n

Lukashenko himself took nearly a week to respond, saying in an address to the nation Friday that he had intensified talks with Putin \u201con the return of nuclear weapons to Belarus\u201d to \u201csafeguard\u201d his country, which he said was under threat of invasion from the West.<\/p>\n

Belarus, which does not possess its own nuclear weapons after it transferred the stock it inherited from the Soviet era to Russia in the 1990s, is not officially a party<\/a> to the war in Ukraine, although Moscow used its territory to launch the full-scale invasion last year.<\/p>\n

<\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n

But promising to station his tactical nuclear weapons there will not give Putin any real advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine, said Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, based in Geneva.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis move would not give Russia any capability it did not have before,\u201d Baklitskiy said. \u201cNuclear weapons have only played a political and informational role in the war up to now, so every side will use this decision as a talking point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia will claim it is supporting an ally, accuse the West of hypocrisy over NATO nuclear sharing and put some pressure on the West, Baklitskiy added, while Ukraine and NATO will condemn Russia\u2019s nuclear saber rattling and try to shore up international support to put pressure on Moscow.<\/p>\n

Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, at close to 6,000 warheads, according to<\/a> estimates by the Federation of American Scientists, a Washington-based nonprofit policy research and advocacy organization.<\/p>\n

Putin has repeatedly vowed that he will not hesitate<\/a> to unleash this arsenal should Russia\u2019s security or existence be threatened, and he has ramped up those threats at times in the face of major setbacks.<\/p>\n

Given the lack of any breakthroughs in Russia\u2019s current ground offensive, its nuclear arsenal remains one of the few aspects of its military power that still commands a measure of respect in the West, said Christopher Tuck, an expert in conflict and security at King\u2019s College London.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s latest nuclear rhetoric replicates \u201can existing Russian pattern of resorting to vague nuclear policy announcements to divert attention from difficulties in other areas,\u201d Tuck said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe likely intent is to manipulate Western fears of nuclear escalation and, through this, to try and contribute to a process of the wearing out of Western support<\/a> for Ukraine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s decision on Belarus is an admission that \u201che is afraid of losing,\u201d Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tweeted<\/a> last Sunday. \u201cAll he can do is scare with tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, Washington and its allies have been critical but measured in their responses to Putin\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

Both the National Security Council and the State Department said in separate statements that the U.S. had \u201cnot seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture<\/a> nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, President Joe Biden called Putin\u2019s plans \u201cworrisome.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while NATO criticized Putin\u2019s remarks, it echoed Washington in saying it has not seen any changes in Russia\u2019s nuclear posture that would lead it to adjust its own.<\/p>\n

The European Union\u2019s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, called Putin\u2019s intentions a \u201cthreat to European security\u201d and said the E.U. stands ready to respond with further sanctions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The West\u2019s reaction will not change Putin\u2019s plans, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Russia,<\/picture>
Tactical ballistic missiles are fired during joint Russian and Belarusian military drills in Gomel, Belarus, in February 2022.<\/span>Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The threats come amid broader nuclear tensions<\/a> with the collapse of the last remaining arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia.<\/p>\n

The U.S. said Tuesday it will withhold some nuclear data from Russia in response to Moscow\u2019s decision not to provide data required under the New START Treaty. Putin unilaterally suspended<\/a> Russia\u2019s involvement in the treaty in February. <\/p>\n

Russia and China have criticized the U.S., Britain and Australia for agreeing to a deal<\/a> on nuclear-powered submarines, but experts said Putin\u2019s Belarus move could also open a rift in the burgeoning alliance.<\/p>\n

The Belarus announcement could also raise eyebrows in Beijing after China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping, visited Moscow<\/a> last week in a show of support for the increasingly isolated Kremlin, said William Alberque, the director of strategy, technology and arms control at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.<\/p>\n

Putin and Xi said in a joint statement that all nuclear powers must not station nuclear weapons outside their national territories and must withdraw all nuclear weapons stationed abroad.<\/p>\n

Asked about Putin\u2019s comments about Belarus on Monday, China\u2019s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, reiterated Beijing\u2019s stance, calling for a political settlement in Ukraine and avoiding a nuclear crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alberque said that if Xi was not consulted on Putin\u2019s announcement, however, it could make him rethink the basis for cooperating with Russia in the future. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Yuliya Talmazan and Abigail Williams and Eric Baculinao<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s latest round of nuclear saber rattling has drawn concern and condemnation from the West, but his promise to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus may do more to expose the Kremlin\u2019s weakness than shift the dynamics of the war in Ukraine. Putin\u2019s announcement that he would deploy the weapons on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":625007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534,1140,22680],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-625006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-financial","8":"category-should","9":"category-worried"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}