Russia could have moved its tactical nuclear weapons from its borders to neighbouring Belarus, several hundred miles closer to NATO territory, according to Foreign Policy.
According to Foreign Policy’s findings, based on accounts from Western officials, the move is intended to pressure neighbouring NATO members to prevent direct third-party involvement in the conflict.
This came after Russia finished the delivery of nuclear weapons to its neighbour last December. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told a meeting of the economic bloc in St Petersburg that the deliveries were completed in October.
The shipment of nuclear weapons has caused serious concern in Poland and other countries in the region. The reported move of Russia’s nuclear arsenal is meant to send a political message, but it has a military impact, the report says.
All attention now turns to NATO’s military presence in the eastern part of the alliance as it faces tremendous pressure. However, NATO officials have refuted the concerns, insisting that Russia’s latest moves to relocate its nuclear weapons are not novel and are in line with the nature of previous military statements.
The news of the deployment was confirmed by Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas, who became the first senior NATO official to confirm it.
We would like to see a harder response on that. If [the] Russians move nuclear weapons closer to us, we need to move as well.
Anušauskas also mentioned the apathy of Western countries to Russia’s earlier deployment of additional nuclear weapons on the Kaliningrad Peninsula. He cited this as an argument that there was a high probability that NATO would not react in any manner.
