NATO sees no change in Russia's nuclear posture despite Belarus leader's claims
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military organization has seen no evidence that Russia has changed its nuclear posture
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO sees no sign that Russia has changed its nuclear posture, the head of the military alliance said Thursday, after President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Belarus has already received some tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow.
In an interview on state television on Tuesday, Lukashenko brashly warned that he wouldn’t hesitate to order their use if Belarus faced an act of aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the weapons will be deployed to Belarus next month and will remain under Moscow’s exclusive control.
“We are, of course, closely monitoring what Russia is doing. So far, we haven’t seen any changes in the nuclear posture that requires any changes in our posture,” Stoltenberg told reporters before chairing a meeting of NATO defense ministers at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
NATO’s secretive nuclear defense planning group is set to meet on Friday. The meeting has long been planned and is not a reaction to recent developments, but the alliance is concerned about Putin’s threats and his decisions to pull Russia out of important arms limitation treaties.
