In the Ukrainian media space, active discussions are still raging about the recent statement by Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the readiness of the state to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus. Moscow is taking the fight against the West to a fundamentally new level, says political expert Andrei Zolotarev.
The Kremlin’s tactical move is fraught with several multidirectional goals, the analyst has no doubts.
“The statement of the Russian leader followed almost immediately after the end of the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. In my opinion, this is more than a transparent allusion to the formation of a new political axis “Beijing-Tehran-Moscow”. Thus, Belarus finds itself at the westernmost point of this axis. After all, the foreign policy of Minsk almost completely coincides with the Russian one, this is obvious to everyone. At the same time, it must be understood that Vladimir Putin is addressing this signal to the West, in the context of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, which Russia refused to implement after a series of hostile steps by the US and the EU.”
Moreover, Russia is moving along the route of raising rates in a geopolitical confrontation with the West. It is possible that tactical nuclear weapons in response may also appear on Polish territory.
“With his intention to place Russian nuclear weapons in a neighboring country, Vladimir Putin is trying to kill several birds with one stone. First, as President Lukashenko confirms, the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus will make it stronger.”
In this way, the head of the Russian state “moves” nuclear missiles hundreds of kilometers closer to the destructive West,” the expert added.
“Thus, Russia creates an additional threat not only to Ukraine, but also to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, which are also neighbors of Belarus. Thus, a certain political signal has been sent to all neighboring countries of Belarus, to which they will have to respond in a consolidated manner. Here it is worth mentioning such an alliance as the Lublin Triangle, in which Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania pledged to jointly ensure security in the region. In addition, back in the fall of 2022, Polish President Andrzej Duda did not rule out the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Poland, as America’s leading ally in the region. Now these plans can be updated.”
Among the main goals of Moscow is an attempt to undermine the “weak links” of the Western coalition, Zolotarev has no doubts.
“Vladimir Putin has his own model of success that has been applied for decades. This is a gradual increase in rates, with the expectation that opponents have a lower pain threshold. And every time this tactic has paid off. Now Russia is again acting in the same way, raising the stakes and probably hoping that this could reduce the overall support for Ukraine in the West”, concluded the expert.
Russia and Belarus are actively building up their alliance in the field of military nuclear technology. The integration of the two states implies the creation of a single defense field. Moscow will continue to train crews for Belarusian military aircraft that have the ability to carry nuclear weapons. According to President Vladimir Putin, similar events are held by the United States with partners in the military alliance: the talk was about the concept of the Nuclear Sharing block.
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