Russia to station nuclear weapons in neigbhouring Belarus, Ukraine struggles

New Delhi: Russia will park its ‘tactical nuclear’ weapons in the neighbouring Belarus, suggesting that Putin is in for an endgame if situation in Ukraine calls for it.

President Valdimir Putin is quoted by Tass news agency as giving direction to take the weapons outside the county for the first time since the mid-1990s.

A breakaway country of former Soviet Union, Belarus is seen increasingly leaning towards Russia to the extent of offering its soil as a launch pad for the Ukraine attack without directly involving in the war.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko's allowing Russian to station nuclear weapons in his country may not come as a surprise to many in the West considering the ties both the nations developed following Russia’s Ukraine invasion.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine told a Japanese newspaper that counter offensive against Russia has to wait until his Western allies supply more tanks, artillery and Himars rocket launchers to the frontlines.

Vladimir Putin reportedly claimed to have struck a deal with Belarus to station Russian nuclear weapons in the nation.

Putin’s announcement follows as the tension between Russia and the West is peaking to the brink of a direct confrontation, especially after Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia recently.

Justifying his move, Putin said ‘there is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries’. However, Putin has not specified when the weapons will be shifted to Belarus.

Meanwhile, news agency Reuters reported that ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons suggest those offering ‘specific gains in the battlefield’.