MOSCOW: Belarusian air force crews have completed their training for using tactical nuclear weapons as part of Russia’s plan to deploy the weapons to its ally Belarus amid the fighting in neighboring Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.
The ministry released a video in which a Belarusian pilot said that the training course in Russia had given the crews of the Belarusian air force’s Su-25 ground attack jets the necessary skills for using the weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared last month that Moscow planned to put some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. It was another attempt by the Kremlin leader to dangle the nuclear threat to discourage the West from supporting Ukraine.
Russia has a union agreement with Belarus that envisions close political, economic and military ties. Russian troops used Belarusian territory to roll into Ukraine from the north in February 2022 and have maintained a presence in Belarus.
The deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus would put them closer to potential targets in Ukraine and NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe. Belarus shares a 1,250-kilometer (778-mile) border with NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Such weapons are intended to destroy enemy troops on the battlefield. They have a relatively short range and much less power compared with nuclear warheads fitted to long-range strategic missiles, which are capable of obliterating whole cities.
Putin said that construction of storage facilities for tactical nuclear weapons would be completed in Belarus by July 1. Russia also has helped modernize Belarusian warplanes to adapt them to carrying nuclear weapons and provided the country with Iskander short-range missiles that could be fitted with a nuclear warhead.
Putin has emphasized that Russia would retain control over any nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus, just as the US controls its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its NATO allies.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine had Soviet nuclear weapons stationed in their territory, but handed them over to Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
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Russia trained Belarusian pilots in nuclear weapons use
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Russia trained Belarusian pilots in nuclear weapons use
- It was another attempt by the Kremlin leader to dangle the nuclear threat to discourage the West from supporting Ukraine
US NATO envoy says allies must ‘pull weight’ after Czech defense cut
PRAGUE, March 12 : The United States’ ambassador to NATO said on Thursday that all allies must “pull their weight,” after Czech lawmakers approved a 2026 budget that cuts defense outlays.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis’ government, in power since December, pushed a revamped budget through the lower house on Wednesday evening which cut the defense ministry’s allocation versus a previous proposal to 154.8 billion crowns ($7.31 billion), or 1.73 percent of gross domestic product.
That is below a NATO target of 2 percent of GDP already expected before alliance members pledged last year in the Hague to raise defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP plus 1.5 percent on other defense-relevant investments over the next decade.
The Czech Finance Ministry says total defense spending in the budget will reach 2.07 percent of GDP, but the country’s budget watchdog has warned that includes money earmarked elsewhere, like for the transport ministry for road projects, that may not be recognized by NATO.
“All Allies must pull their weight and honor The Hague Defense Commitment,” US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said on X on Thursday with a picture of a news headline on the Czech budget approval.
“These numbers are not arbitrary. They are about meeting the moment — and the moment requires 5 percent as the standard. No excuses, no opt-outs.”
European NATO countries are under pressure to raise defense spending amid the Ukraine-Russia war and at US President Donald Trump’s urging.
Babis, whose populist ANO party won elections last year, said in February the country was “certainly not” on the path to raising core defense spending to the 3.5 percent target, saying there was a different focus, like on health care.
The budget watchdog on Thursday reiterated “strong doubts” that some spending deemed defense in this year’s budget would meet NATO’s definition.
President Petr Pavel, a former NATO official, has also said defense cuts risked a loss of trust from allies — but has signalled he would not veto the budget.
US Ambassador to Prague Nicholas Merrick said last week the Czech Republic may slip to the bottom of NATO’s defense-spending ranks.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis’ government, in power since December, pushed a revamped budget through the lower house on Wednesday evening which cut the defense ministry’s allocation versus a previous proposal to 154.8 billion crowns ($7.31 billion), or 1.73 percent of gross domestic product.
That is below a NATO target of 2 percent of GDP already expected before alliance members pledged last year in the Hague to raise defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP plus 1.5 percent on other defense-relevant investments over the next decade.
The Czech Finance Ministry says total defense spending in the budget will reach 2.07 percent of GDP, but the country’s budget watchdog has warned that includes money earmarked elsewhere, like for the transport ministry for road projects, that may not be recognized by NATO.
“All Allies must pull their weight and honor The Hague Defense Commitment,” US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said on X on Thursday with a picture of a news headline on the Czech budget approval.
“These numbers are not arbitrary. They are about meeting the moment — and the moment requires 5 percent as the standard. No excuses, no opt-outs.”
European NATO countries are under pressure to raise defense spending amid the Ukraine-Russia war and at US President Donald Trump’s urging.
Babis, whose populist ANO party won elections last year, said in February the country was “certainly not” on the path to raising core defense spending to the 3.5 percent target, saying there was a different focus, like on health care.
The budget watchdog on Thursday reiterated “strong doubts” that some spending deemed defense in this year’s budget would meet NATO’s definition.
President Petr Pavel, a former NATO official, has also said defense cuts risked a loss of trust from allies — but has signalled he would not veto the budget.
US Ambassador to Prague Nicholas Merrick said last week the Czech Republic may slip to the bottom of NATO’s defense-spending ranks.
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