Russia has deployed tactical nuclear missiles to Belarus, Western officials confirm

This was reported by Foreign Policy magazine with reference to Western officials.

The news came the day after Vladimir Putin's statement that Russia was ready for a nuclear war.

Putin first announced plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in March last year. In June, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that some of these weapons had been brought into the country.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas became the first NATO official to confirm the news of the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, Foreign Policy reports.

“We would like to see a harder response on that,” Anusauskas said. “If [the] Russians move nuclear weapons closer to us, we need to move as well,” he said.

Moving nuclear weapons sends a clear political signal, but makes little sense in practical terms, as Russia has missiles that can deliver nuclear weapons to virtually anywhere in NATO, Foreign Policy experts say.

According to a new US intelligence assessment released this week, Russia likely does not want to engage in a direct military conflict with NATO, but could use nuclear weapons to deter Washington and the alliance as a whole.

Vladimir Putin began hinting at the possibility of using nuclear weapons from the first days of the war in Ukraine. Putin hasn’t taken that threat off the table, experts say.

• On March 13, Putin said that Russia was technically ready for a nuclear war. The White House commented on this statement, noting that President Joe Biden was "aware" of it, but that the United States would not stop supporting Ukraine. 

• The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said that he sees no prerequisites for Russia to use nuclear weapons, despite Putin's recent threats.