Germany called Russia’s deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus an “attempt to intimidate”

The German Federal Foreign Office described Russia’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus as an “attempt to intimidate.” It is reported by RBC with reference to Tagesschau.

“The comparison made by President Putin with NATO’s nuclear sharing is misleading and cannot serve to justify the move announced by Russia,” the foreign ministry said.

Putin said the day before that Russia, in response to the request of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, would place tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of the republic, and a storage facility for it would be completed by July 1. According to him, this will not violate international obligations on the non-proliferation of these weapons. Moscow is doing everything that the United States has been “doing for decades”, deploying “for a long time in the territories of its allied countries, NATO countries, in Europe, its tactical nuclear weapons,” he explained.

The reason for the talks with Lukashenka was the UK’s statement about the transfer of depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine (in response, Putin threatened that Russia had something to answer), since it is “one way or another connected with nuclear technology,” the head of state added. He stressed that Russia is not transferring nuclear weapons to a neighboring country, but will place them on its territory.