Borrell: Russia’s plan to station nuclear weapons in Belarus 'threatens European security'

On March 26, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia’s decision to deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, for which a storage facility is to be built in summer this year, an “irresponsible escalation and threat to European security.”

Borrell added that Belarus, which acts as Russia's ally in the war against Ukraine, “can still stop it, it is their choice.”

According to Borrell, the European Union is ready for new sanctions in response to Russia’s actions announced by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on March 25 in an interview with Russian state media.

Russia plans to complete the construction of a tactical nuclear weapons storage facility in Belarus, which shares nearly 400 kilometers of border with Poland, by the beginning of July.

Putin said that this decision was made in response to the U.K.'s decision to supply Ukraine with standard depleted uranium rounds for their Challenger 2 tanks.

At the same time US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that at present the White House sees no signs indicating that Putin's plan to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus will actually be implemented.

“We're just going to have to watch and see where this one goes,” Kirby said in an interview with CBS on March 26. “We have not seen any indication that he's made good on this pledge, or moved any nuclear weapons around.”

How likely is Putin to nuke Ukraine?

When Russia’s Vladimir Putin is in trouble, he threatens to start a global nuclear holocaust. The Russian president has a long history of nuclear brinksmanship, always implicit in his rhetoric yet never manifesting in reality. And now, as his war of conquest in Ukraine is failing, Putin is again

Kyiv IndependentIllia Ponomarenko