Russia announced on Thursday it was moving forward with the first deployment of such weapons outside its borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the arms transfer nuclear had already begun.
On Friday, Biden said he received “very negatively” reports that Russia was moving forward with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
The US State Department condemned the Russian plan, according to Reuters.
“It is the sovereign right of Russia and Belarus to ensure their security by whatever means we deem necessary in light of the large-scale mixed war that Washington is waging against us,” the Russian Embassy said. in the United States in a press release. the actions we are taking are fully consistent with our international legal obligations. »
The United States has said the world faces the most serious nuclear threat since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 due to comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin during the conflict in Ukraine, but Moscow says its position has been wrong interpreted.
The Russian Embassy described US criticism of Moscow’s plan as hypocrisy, saying, “Before blaming others, Washington can look at itself.”
“The United States has for decades maintained a large arsenal of its nuclear weapons in Europe. It participates with its NATO allies in nuclear weapons-sharing agreements and weapons-use scenario rehearsals against our country,” she added.
The United States has deployed nuclear weapons in Western Europe since former US President Dwight Eisenhower authorized it during the Cold War to counter the potential threat from the Soviet Union.
The first American nuclear weapons were deployed in Europe in 1954, and that was in Britain.
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