Russian President

has promised to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus - just as the US is doing on the territory of allied countries.

As Putin stated, the Russian Federation helped Belarus to retool its planes, handed over Iskander missiles and is starting to build a nuclear weapons storage facility.

According to him, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus

insisted on this for a long time .

The Kremlin head's statement came as a surprise to Ukraine and the international community.

It was announced shortly after the talks with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which emphasized, in particular, the inadmissibility of the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

What is the goal pursued by the President of the Russian Federation, what will be the consequences of Putin's statement, how Ukraine and the West reacted - TSN.ua collected details and opinions of experts.

International reaction to the Kremlin's démarche

The US reacted with restraint.

As the official representative of the White House,

, noted, there are no signs that Moscow plans to use its nuclear weapons.

According to him, "we will have to watch and see where it will go."

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said that the European Union is ready to respond with new sanctions to Russia's intentions to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The

called Putin's statements "a further attempt at nuclear intimidation."

In addition, such a step is a violation of the obligations of Belarus to be free from nuclear weapons.

"President Putin's comparison with the distribution of NATO's nuclear weapons is misleading and cannot serve to justify the step announced by Russia," the department emphasized.

Lithuanian Defense Minister

 advised not to pay attention to such actions of the Kremlin.

"We should not be distracted by the cries of "what now?". The protection of NATO countries from the threat of nuclear weapons is guaranteed, regardless of whether these weapons are located west of our borders (Kaliningrad), to the east (Belarus) or to the north (St. Petersburg) )", said Anushauskas.

The

said that Putin is increasing the threat to peace in Europe.

"We believe that Putin's decision to place tactical nuclear weapons and their means of delivery in Belarus further increases tensions in connection with Russian aggression against Ukraine. This is another step towards drawing Belarus into the cogs of the Russian military machine. We condemn this increase in threats to peace in Europe and all over the world," the agency said in a statement. 

What the Ukrainian authorities say

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

 called on the countries of the G7 Group and the European Union to warn the Belarusian authorities about the far-reaching consequences for the Republic of Belarus, in case of its agreement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons from Russia on its territory.

Ukraine also urged to immediately convene an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council.

Ukraine also appealed to Belarusian society to prevent the realization of Putin's criminal intentions.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine,

, noted that the Kremlin "has taken Belarus as a nuclear hostage."

"Putin's statement about the placement of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus - a step towards the internal destabilization of the country - maximizes the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Putin in the Belarusian society. The Kremlin took Belarus as nuclear hostages," the NSDC secretary emphasized.

adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine

, believes that the Russian president is acknowledging his previous defeats with this step. 

"Putin (Russia) is very predictable. Making a statement about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, he admits that he is afraid, he will lose and all he can do is scare tactics. And second: he once again records his participation in the commission of a crime. Violating the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ..." he wrote.

Putin makes Belarus a "scapegoat"

The President of the Russian Federation,

decided to use Belarus to intimidate the West, but he did not announce the specifics of the terms of deployment of nuclear weapons.

This opinion was expressed by the head of the department of the National Institute of Strategic Studies, an expert on international security

on the air of the "Freedom" channel.

"

If Putin said that he would move nuclear weapons to the borders of Ukraine, it would be relatively honest on the part of that he was preparing for a nuclear war. And then he said that he was not preparing, that Lukashenko asked him and they prepared such an opportunity. It is not known when it will be implemented," the expert noted.

The hedgehog reminded that

:

"Everything he said was that from July 1 there will be technical readiness for Russian tactical nuclear weapons to appear in Belarus. When it will appear and whether it will appear at all is unknown. Under what conditions - he also did not say. Even did not say for which aircraft it is intended."

In his opinion, the statement of the President of the Russian Federation was caused by the fact that he remained dissatisfied with the conversation with Xi Jinping:

"He signed a statement on partnership with him, it was explicitly written there that nuclear countries should refuse to deploy nuclear weapons outside their national territory. And a few days after that, he declared that he was ready to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus... That is, he asked for Chinese assistance did not receive in sufficient volume."

Nuclear blackmail is the last trump card of the Russian Federation

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

believes that Putin's nuclear blackmail is "really the last chance for Russia to try to turn the situation in its favor."

"

Although military specialists, who look at the situation professionally, clearly and clearly state that this will not happen, because this step will mean, first of all, the end of those people who will go to it ", - says Ogryzko.

In his opinion, Putin's words are related to the critical situation for Moscow on the battlefield:

"The offensive, which was loudly announced in Russia, actually suffocated, there are no results on the battlefield. On the other hand, on the contrary, there are clear confirmations that the Armed Forces, the Resistance Forces are concentrating their capabilities and the spring will shoot someday."

Belarus is becoming a nuclear power

Military expert

emphasized that placing nuclear weapons in Belarus is a direct violation of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

"It turns out that Belarus is becoming a nuclear state. Indirectly, indirectly.

will be under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, but located in Belarus. This means that NATO countries will include Belarus in the list of enemies," he said.

According to him, Putin is trying to inflame the situation.

"

There is a swampy area, Polissia. And tactical weapons will not reach far," the expert explained.

Also, Zhdanov does not rule out that Putin's statement will remain just words.

"After all, until nuclear weapons have crossed the Russian-Belarusian border, until then this is just a statement," he suggested.

Read also:

• Joint exercises of the Russian Federation and Belarus have been extended at least until April 3: details

• Tsykhanovskaya reacted to Putin's idea to place tactical nuclear weapons of the Russian Federation in Belarus

• Putin probably wanted to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus even before the war - ISW