While Germany described Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements as nuclear intimidation, a senior US official confirmed today (Sunday) that the United States has no indication of Russia transferring nuclear weapons to Belarus, or Putin's willingness to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
In response to CBS's inquiry about Putin's announcement of Moscow's deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: "We have no indication that Putin has implemented what he announced or transferred any nuclear weapons."
For his part, European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell today considered the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus a threat to European security, stressing in tweets on his Twitter account that Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons means an irresponsible escalation and a threat to European security.
"Minsk can still stop that step," Borrell said, vowing to impose more sanctions on Minsk.
In turn, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) criticized Russia's talk about the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus, describing those statements as "dangerous and irresponsible," according to a spokesman for the alliance, who said that NATO is vigilant, closely monitoring the situation, and has not detected any changes. In Russia's nuclear status that will lead to adjust its status.
In the same context, the German government denounced what it described as a "new attempt at nuclear intimidation" from Moscow. "We will not let ourselves be sidetracked by these threats," a State Department official said. He added, "The comparison that President Putin made with NATO's nuclear missiles is wrong and cannot be used as a justification," noting also that Belarus violates its commitment to remain a land free of nuclear weapons.
Okaz (Jeddah) @okaz_online