Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said the Biden administration is closely monitoring Russia\u2019s claims that it\u2019s stored a tactical nuclear weapon in\u00a0Belarus, but Washington has\u00a0\u201cno reason to adjust\u201d its own nuclear posture.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Russian President\u00a0Vladimir Putin\u00a0earlier in the day said Moscow sent the\u00a0first of several nuclear weapons\u00a0to its ally Belarus, with the rest to be delivered by the end of summer.\u00a0Putin, who in March first announced the plan to deploy nuclear bombs in the country bordering Ukraine, said the move is meant as a \u201cdeterrence measure.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Blinken said he has seen Putin\u2019s recent comments, and the United States will \u201ccontinue to monitor the situation very closely and very carefully.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no reason to adjust our own nuclear posture,\u201d Blinken said at a State Department\u00a0press conference with Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.\u201d <\/p>\n
He added Washington is still committed to defending \u201cevery inch\u201d of NATO territory.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cAs for Belarus itself, this is just another example of [Belarus President Alexander] Lukashenko making irresponsible, provocative choices to cede control of Belarus\u2019s sovereignty against the will of the Belarusian people,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadym Prystaiko, however, said Putin\u2019s remarks should be taken \u201cvery, very seriously,\u201d CNN reported.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that [Putin] was blackmailing all of us: Ukrainians, first of all, but then Europeans and Americans and all our partners around the globe,\u201d\u00a0Prystaiko said.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Moscow is transferring short-range tactical nuclear weapons, which are not as damaging as the nuclear warheads attached to ballistic missiles but are capable of immense destruction, into Belarus.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Russia moving the nuclear weapons back into Belarus is the first such transfer for the Kremlin since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. At the time, Belarus was one of four former Soviet Union members, including Ukraine, that transferred nuclear weapons over to Russia.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Putin, who has repeatedly threatened the use of nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine, also on Friday\u00a0denigrated NATO and warned there is a \u201cserious danger of further drawing\u201d the alliance into the war by providing Ukraine weapons.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n
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Blinken: US has no reason to adjust nuclear posture over Russias weapons transfer to Belarus - The Hill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said the Biden administration is closely monitoring Russia\u2019s claims that it\u2019s stored a tactical nuclear weapon in\u00a0Belarus, but Washington has\u00a0\u201cno reason to adjust\u201d its own nuclear posture.\u00a0 Russian President\u00a0Vladimir Putin\u00a0earlier in the day said Moscow sent the\u00a0first of several nuclear weapons\u00a0to its ally Belarus, with the rest to be delivered by the end of summer.\u00a0Putin, who in March first announced the plan to deploy nuclear bombs in the country bordering Ukraine, said the move is meant as a \u201cdeterrence measure.\u201d\u00a0 Blinken said he has seen Putin\u2019s recent comments, and the United States will \u201ccontinue to monitor the situation very closely and very carefully.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWe have no reason to adjust our own nuclear posture,\u201d Blinken said at a State Department\u00a0press conference with Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.\u201d He added Washington is still committed to defending \u201cevery inch\u201d of NATO territory.\u00a0 \u201cAs for Belarus itself, this is just another example of [Belarus President Alexander] Lukashenko making irresponsible, provocative choices to cede control of Belarus\u2019s sovereignty against the will of the Belarusian people,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0 Ukraine\u2019s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadym Prystaiko, however, said Putin\u2019s remarks should be taken \u201cvery, very seriously,\u201d CNN reported.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI believe that [Putin] was blackmailing all of us: Ukrainians, first of all, but then Europeans and Americans and all our partners around the globe,\u201d\u00a0Prystaiko said.\u00a0 Moscow is transferring short-range tactical nuclear weapons, which are not as damaging as the nuclear warheads attached to ballistic missiles but are capable of immense destruction, into Belarus.\u00a0\u00a0 Russia moving the nuclear weapons back into Belarus is the first such transfer for the Kremlin since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. At the time, Belarus was one of four former Soviet Union members, including Ukraine, that transferred nuclear weapons over to Russia.\u00a0 Putin, who has repeatedly threatened the use of nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine, also on Friday\u00a0denigrated NATO and warned there is a \u201cserious danger of further drawing\u201d the alliance into the war by providing Ukraine weapons.\u00a0\u00a0 Continue reading