Moscow [Russia], June 17: resident Vladimir Putin said that his deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, something he confirmed for the first time had already happened, was a reminder to the West that it could not inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
Speaking at Russia's flagship economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin said Russian tactical nuclear warheads had already been delivered to close ally Belarus, but stressed he saw no need for Russia to resort to nuclear weapons for now.
The move, Moscow's first deployment of such warheads - shorter-range nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union was intended as a warning to the West about arming and supporting Ukraine, the Russian leader said.
Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Putin, said late on Tuesday his country had started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons that included some three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Japan in 1945.
The Russian leader announced in March he had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, pointing to the U.S deployment of such weapons in a host of European countries over many decades.
The United States has criticised Putin's decision but has said it has no intention of altering its own stance on strategic nuclear weapons and has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.
The Russian step is nonetheless being watched closely by Washington and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
Putin said the West was doing everything it could to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine where Moscow is locked in the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two after invading its neighbour last year in what it called "a special military operation."
But Russia had no need to resort to nuclear weapons for now, said Putin, signalling no change in Moscow's nuclear posture which only envisages such a move if the existence of the Russian state is threatened.
But he said talks with the West to reduce Russia's vast nuclear arsenal, the world's largest, were a non-starter.
Sounding defiant as he addressed his country's political and business elite, he said a Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces in Ukraine had so far not had any meaningful success. Kyiv's forces were suffering heavy losses and had "no chance" against Russia's military, he said.
Ukraine would soon run out of its own military equipment, making it totally reliant on hardware supplied by the West, undermining its ability to fight for long, he suggested.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation