Ambassador: Russia to deploy tactical nuclear weapons near Belarus's western border

Russia will place the tactical nuclear weapons that it plans to deploy in Belarus closer to Belarus's western borders, Russian ambassador in Minsk, Boris Gryzlov, told Belarusian TV on April 2.

Moscow last week announced plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, claiming it was doing this in response to the U.K. providing Ukraine with armor and munitions containing depleted uranium.

Gryzlov said that the facility where the weapons will be kept on Belarusian territory will be ready by July 1.

The U.S. denounced Moscow's plan as a desperate move to avoid military defeat and threaten the world with nuclear war.

U.S. President Joe Biden on March 28 expressed concern about Moscow's threats.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is not transferring its nuclear weapons to Belarus, only deploying them, meaning that they will remain under Moscow's control, Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko suggested he could use them if Belarus was threatened.

Earlier, U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly countered Russian accusations that supplying Ukraine with ammunition containing depleted uranium is "nuclear escalation," saying that "just because the word uranium is in the title of depleted uranium munitions, they are not nuclear munitions, they are purely conventional munitions."

The munitions in question are standard tank rounds with which U.K.-made Challenger 2 tanks are armed.

Ukraine war latest: EU, NATO condemn Putin’s nuclear threats, Kyiv calls for UN Security Council meeting

Key developments on March 26: * EU, NATO denounce Putin’s threat to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus * Ukraine calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting * US sees no signs Russia moved nuclear weapons to Belarus * Military: Vuhledar ‘completely razed to the ground,’ battle for B…

Kyiv IndependentThaisa Semenova