Ukraine: Russia ‘took Belarus nuke hostage’

KYIV – Kyiv on Sunday said Russia was holding Minsk as a "nuclear hostage" after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to ally Belarus.

"The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage," the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, wrote on Twitter.

He added that the move was "a step towards the internal destabilization of the country".

On Saturday, Putin said he and strongman Alexander Lukashenko "agreed" Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Lukashenko, who has been in power in Belarus for almost 30 years, is a key Putin ally.

Back in February 2022, Minsk allowed the Kremlin to launch its invasion of Ukraine from his country's territory.

Fears have since risen that Belarus may join its ally's offensive, but Lukashenko said he would do so "only if attacked".

For Danilov, Putin's announcement "maximizes the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Putin in

Belarusian society".

Putin said Saturday he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbor and ally Belarus, bringing the arms to a country at the gates of the European Union.

Putin has previously issued thinly veiled warnings that he could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine if Russia were threatened, reviving Cold War-era fears.

He also said he would deploy depleted uranium ammunition if Kyiv received the controversial weaponry from the West, following a British suggestion that it could supply Ukraine.

Putin said the move to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was "nothing unusual."

"The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies," Putin said.

Putin said he spoke to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and said "we agreed to do the same."

He added that Russia had helped equip Belarusian planes "without violating our international agreements on nuclear-nonproliferation... 10 planes are ready for this type of weapon to be used."