To what extent is Putin's announced program of deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus similar to the American policy of interaction with allies in the atomic sphere?

How will the USA and NATO respond to the decision of the Russian Federation regarding tactical nuclear arsenals in Belarus?

How likely is it that the USA will deploy nuclear weapons in Lithuania and Poland?

The professor of nuclear engineering, the director of the Nuclear Security Institute of the University of Tennessee, Dr. Howard Gaul

, answers these questions for Radio Svaboda .

Throughout his career, Dr. Gaul has dealt with issues of global security, primarily with regard to nuclear materials and technologies.

Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, he worked for more than twenty years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he managed major scientific and operational projects in the field of nuclear and national security.

The Livermore laboratory is the second center for the development of American nuclear weapons after the laboratory in Los Alamos.

- Vladimir Putin stated that Russia's decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus reflects the long-standing US practice of joint use of nuclear weapons with NATO allies such as Germany and Turkey.

American weapons are stationed in these countries, but the US maintains control of the chain of command in addition to training the pilots of these countries in the event of a potential nuclear conflict.

US officials argue that joint use of nuclear weapons with other countries does not violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as the US maintains control over the weapons.

Is the Russian interpretation of American practice accurate?

Do you think that Russia's actions contradict the letter and spirit of the NPT?

Howard Hall

— The position of the United States in relation to the placement of American nuclear weapons, which are under the control of the United States, on bases in allied countries has been carefully studied by international scientists.

And, although such placement is not the preferred practice, it is considered appropriate for the NPT.

It should also be noted that these agreements on deployment (nuclear sharing) historically served to restrain Soviet (now Russian) militaristic adventurism in allied countries.

Unfortunately, Russia refused to respect the territorial sovereignty of neighboring Ukraine, which is a violation of previous Russian security guarantees to Ukraine, as well as a violation of the UN Charter.

Russian troops have committed many war crimes in Ukraine, and their number continues to grow.

Russia's claim that moving its nuclear weapons to Belarus is a proportionate response is based on a false equivalence between the use of depleted uranium in conventional munitions and armor and Russia's weapons of mass destruction.

- How, in your opinion, should the USA and NATO react to Russia's decision to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus?

- I think that the USA and NATO will follow the development of events very carefully.

One thing that has so far been surprising about the Russian military operations in Ukraine is how poorly trained, poorly equipped, and poorly managed the Russian military and mercenaries are.

If the same level of military competence takes place in the Russian nuclear forces, the consequences for global security are unfavorable.

A fundamental principle of nuclear security is that nuclear weapons (and, by extension, nuclear material) must be operated and guarded by people with the highest level of competence and professionalism.

So far, both of them have been little seen in regular Russian forces in Ukraine.

It is believed that the same may be true of their nuclear forces.

— After Putin's statement about the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus, a NATO member, Belarus's neighbor Poland expressed its desire to participate more closely in the Alliance's nuclear strategy.

Earlier in Warsaw they even talked about the possibility of placing American nuclear weapons in the country.

What are your thoughts on this?

— I am not sure that it is necessary at the moment, although I am convinced that high-level discussions will certainly be quite active.

If Russia takes actions that meet the conditions of mutual defense under the NATO charter, I expect the situation to change.

And since Putin's reckless imperial ambitions have already brought previously neutral countries such as Finland into NATO, the further cost of Russian military adventurism will only grow.

In this situation, it is very impressive how quickly Putin's decisions turn Russia into a client state of China.

Their relationship is becoming closer, and it is clear that

dominates this relationship.

I can't imagine that the Russian people would want that.

Secure communication

with our editors.

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Plans for deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The main thing

On March 25, Russian President

announced on the air of the Rossiya-24 TV channel that the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons will be completed in Belarus on July 1.

According to him, Alexander Lukashenko has long been asking him to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

In addition, Moscow has already transferred to Minsk the Iskander missile complex, which can use this weapon, and that ten Belarusian planes have allegedly already been converted to carry such weapons.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine ,

, said that the deployment of nuclear weapons is a step towards "the internal destabilization of the country and maximally increases the level of negative perception and general rejection of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demanded an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with Putin's statement about the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.

What are tactical nuclear weapons and can they be deployed in Belarus?

Questions and answers

After Putin's statement, the Pentagon noted that they had not yet seen any signs of nuclear weapons being moved to the territory of the Republic of Belarus.

Some military experts also noted that nothing is actually ready for deployment of such weapons in Belarus.

Other researchers say that nuclear weapons will still appear, and this will entail the establishment of permanent Russian military bases on Belarusian territory.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus announced on March 28 that the decision to deploy nuclear weapons on the country's territory was approved in response to "unprecedented political, economic and informational pressure from the United States, Great Britain and their NATO allies, as well as the European Union states."

Propagandists in the state media positively assessed Russia's intentions to transfer tactical nuclear weapons to the territory of Belarus and began to threaten Western states with strikes.

As of March 28, Lukashenko himself has not commented on Putin's words about the intention to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The European Union and Poland have announced that they are going to impose tougher sanctions against Minsk in case of deployment of tactical nuclear weapons.

China called to prevent further confrontation between nuclear powers.

By the way, in the joint statement adopted as a result of the recent meeting between the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, there is a point:

"All nuclear states must not deploy nuclear weapons outside their national territories and must withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed abroad."

In an interview with Svaboda, the representative of the United Transitional Cabinet for Defense and National Security, Valer Sahashchyk, admitted that the intentions of the Russians could activate the partisan movement in Belarus.

• Yuri Drakakhrust

  Radio Svaboda journalist

  
  

  drakakhrusty@rferl.org

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