EU threatens sanctions on Minsk; NATO brands nuclear moves irresponsible

EU threatens sanctions on Minsk; NATO brands nuclear moves irresponsible
by AFP Staff Writers
Brussels (AFP) March 26, 2023

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday that Brussels was ready to impose new sanctions on Belarus if Minsk were to host Russian nuclear weapons.

"Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions," he tweeted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Saturday his country would station tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.

Putin said the deployment was similar to moves from the United States, which stores such weapons in bases across Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, an analogy western allies called "misleading".

With fears of a nuclear war rising since the invasion, experts believe that any Russian strike would likely involve small-size battlefield weapons, called "tactical" as opposed to "strategic" high-powered long-range nuclear weapons.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry accused Russia of breaching its obligations, and of undermining the "nuclear disarmament architecture and the international security system in general".

It called on "all members of the international community to convey to the criminal Putin regime the categorical unacceptability of its latest nuclear provocations."

In the interview broadcast Saturday, Putin said the move to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was "nothing unusual".

NATO brands Russian nuclear move 'dangerous and irresponsible'
Brussels (AFP) March 26, 2023 - The NATO alliance on Sunday condemned Russia's announcement that it would deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus as "dangerous and irresponsible".

But spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the western allies had not yet "seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own."

Ukraine has sought an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Moscow's plan, announced Saturday, to deploy tactical warheads to neighbouring Belarus.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, with some of its troops crossing the border through its ally Belarus, and Kyiv sees the move as "nuclear blackmail".

President Vladimir Putin counters by comparing the move to the United States basing some of its nuclear arsenal on the territory of its European allies.

But NATO joined Germany in dismissing this analogy.

"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible. NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation," Lungescu said.

"Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments," she said.

"Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments, most recently suspending its participation in the New START Treaty," she said.

Last month Putin said that Moscow would suspend participation in the New START treaty, the last nuclear arms control pact between Russia and the United States.

"Russia must return to compliance and act in good faith," the NATO spokesman said.