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U.S. says it is monitoring Russia’s nuclear weapons

Posted March. 28, 2023 08:08,   

Updated March. 28, 2023 08:08

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The U.S. and other Western countries warned that the use of nuclear weapons crosses a major threshold with regard to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comment that the country will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. However, there hasn’t been a sign that Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons are being moved to Belarus.

“We have not seen any indication Putin has made good on this pledge or moved any nuclear weapons around,” John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, said during an interview with CBS on Sunday. “We've in fact seen no indication he has any intention to use nuclear weapons, period, inside Ukraine. Obviously, we would agree that no nuclear war should be fought, no nuclear war could be won and clearly that would cross a major threshold.”

With regards to President Putin’s claim that the U.K.’s announcement to provide depleted uranium shells to Ukraine is an attempt to deploy nuclear weapons overseas, Kirby said that depleted uranium shells without radioactivity are often used on battlefields and that Russia also uses similar shells. “We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own,” NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu told Reuters. The European Union warned that additional sanctions would be applied following the U.S.’s sanctions if Belarus accepts Russian nuclear weapons.

President Putin’s announcement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus seems to have the intention to block Western countries’ support for Ukraine with a major offensive in the spring. The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, wrote in its report on Saturday that President Putin has been trying to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus to expand its influence over the country before its invasion of Ukraine. It added that his recent announcement is a type of information warfare to threaten Western countries and reduce their potential support for Ukraine.


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