West’s reaction to Russia-Belarus military cooperation ‘puzzling’, says Moscow

Russia has denounced the West’s “puzzling” reaction to growing cooperation between Moscow and Minsk, stressing its right to take all necessary measures in order to ensure its national security.

In a statement on Monday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the Western criticism of cooperation between Russia and Belarus in the military-nuclear domain as “inappropriate”, while pointing to the hybrid war unleashed by the NATO alliance against Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week announced that Moscow would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which he insisted won’t violate the country's obligations under nuclear nonproliferation pacts.

“We agreed with (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko that we would place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the nonproliferation regime,” Putin said on Saturday, according to TASS.

“The United States has been doing this for decades. They deployed their tactical nuclear weapons long ago on the territories of their allies, NATO countries, in Europe," he added.

Zakharova said amid the hybrid war unleashed by the West, and the declared intention of the US-led NATO military alliance to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia, it is natural for Moscow to take military-technical countermeasures.

"The inappropriate reaction of some Western capitals to decisions pertaining to our cooperation with Belarus in the military nuclear domain is certainly puzzling,” the spokesperson said, as reported by TASS.

“It seems the concern that Western countries are expressing in this regard is targeted at an uninformed audience that is completely unaware that the West, [innocently posing] as the self-appointed [global] schoolmarm, has its own years-long record of carrying out exercises in this area.”

Zakharova hastened to add that Russia has “reserved and still reserves the right to take the necessary additional steps to ensure the security of Russia and its allies.”

She also expressed concern over recent calls to expand the geography of the storage of US nuclear weapons in Europe and increased military build-up on the borders of Russia and Belarus.

"Unlike NATO, which is a conglomerate of countries subordinate to the United States, in our case we are talking about a Union State that officially has a common military doctrine,” Zakharova noted.

“Therefore, we are talking about security measures taken by the Union State on its own national territory. All the necessary decisions have been made in this regard, and they will be strictly implemented.”

She said Russia has been exercising maximum restraint over the past years as its calls for the withdrawal of all US nuclear weapons have either been ignored or openly rejected.

Putin announces deal to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russia plans to deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after it reached an agreement with its neighboring territory, bringing some of its warheads closer to Europe.

In his remarks earlier this week, Putin said Russia has already stationed ten aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons.

In response, the US said it would “monitor the implications” of Moscow’s plan but would not adjust its nuclear weapons strategy.

“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson was quoted as saying on Saturday.

“We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance.”

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Russia’s “nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible.”

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Belarus it could face further sanctions if it hosted Russian nuclear weapons.

Tensions between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance members continue to escalate as the war in Ukraine -- which recently completed one year -- rages on.

Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine last February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

On Monday, a top aide to Putin said Moscow owns weapons that can destroy all its enemies if it faces existential threats, accusing Washington of underestimating Russia's nuclear might.

"Russia is patient and does not intimidate anyone with its military advantage. But it has modern unique weapons capable of destroying any adversary, including the United States, in the event of a threat to its existence", said Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian Security Council.

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