No Change to US Nuclear Posture Following Russia’s Pledge to Arm Belarus: State Department

An inert Minuteman III missile in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in June 25 2014. Charlie Riedel/AP Photo

The United States will not adjust its nuclear posture following an announcement by Russia that it will place tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said over the weekend that Belarus could house Russian tactical nuclear weapons by the beginning of summer.

The Biden administration says that Russia is not seriously considering the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, however, and will not adjust its own nuclear posture as such.

“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel during a March 27 press briefing.

“No country is threatening Russia or threatening President Putin,” Patel added.

Belarus, which is immediately west of Russia and north of Ukraine, previously allowed Russian forces to amass and attack Ukraine from within its borders. Likewise, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has vowed to join Russia in its war if it is the target of aggression from Ukraine or the West.

Putin’s announcement means that Russia could place nuclear weapons immediately adjacent to Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, despite Putin’s repeated claims that he was invading Ukraine to prevent Western nuclear arms from being deployed adjacent to Russia.

Such a move would also increase the ease with which the Kremlin could escalate its war against Ukraine.

Patel noted that, despite Putin’s rhetoric, no other nation had ever threatened the use of nuclear arms over the ongoing war in Ukraine, nor sought to escalate the conflict.

“Candidly, this announcement is one that we condemn,” Patel said. “This is the latest example of irresponsible nuclear rhetoric that we have seen from Russia.”

“No other country is inflicting such damage on arms control, nor seeking to undermine strategic stability in Europe. No other country has raised the prospect of potential nuclear use in connection with this conflict.”

Patel added that the United States and its NATO allies would implement “severe consequence” on Russia should it initiate nuclear conflict, and said the Biden administration continues “to have a number of tools at our disposal to hold the Russian Federation accountable.”

To that end, Patel repeated the belief of President Joe Biden that the world was facing a suite of challenges to democratic governance, and link Russia’s aggression to a push against law and order.

“We’re currently at an inflection point when it comes to the future of democracy, both in the United States and globally,” Patel said.