- Oct 17, 2011
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March 25 (Reuters) - Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West.
Putin likened his plans to the U.S. stationing its weapons in Europe and said that Russia would not be transferring control to Belarus. But this could be the first time since the mid-1990s that Russia were to base such weapons outside the country.
Putin did not specify when the weapons would be transferred to Belarus, which has borders with three NATO members - Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. He said Russia would complete the construction of a storage facility there by July 1.
"This is part of Putin's game to try to intimidate NATO ... because there is no military utility from doing this in Belarus as Russia has so many of these weapons and forces inside Russia," said Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists.
Putin likened his plans to the U.S. stationing its weapons in Europe and said that Russia would not be transferring control to Belarus. But this could be the first time since the mid-1990s that Russia were to base such weapons outside the country.
Putin did not specify when the weapons would be transferred to Belarus, which has borders with three NATO members - Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. He said Russia would complete the construction of a storage facility there by July 1.
"This is part of Putin's game to try to intimidate NATO ... because there is no military utility from doing this in Belarus as Russia has so many of these weapons and forces inside Russia," said Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists.
