Blinken responds to Putin's statements about nuclear weapons in Belarus

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented on the statement of the president of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, regarding the placement of the first units of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus. He said this at a press conference in Washington, Bloomberg reports.

Blinken noted that the U.S. sees no reason to adjust its own nuclear position.

"We don't see any signs that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons," the Secretary of State said.

He also condemned the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, for his "irresponsible, provocative choice to cede control of sovereignty to Belarus against the will of the Belarusian people."

Blinken also recalled that Putin, among other things, justified his invasion of Ukraine by wanting to ensure that Kyiv would not get nuclear weapons.

"It would be rather ironic for president Putin to talk now about placing nuclear weapons on the territory of a neighboring state, in particular, one that renounced the nuclear weapons it received when the Soviet Union collapsed," he noted.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the day before Putin said that the first Russian tactical nuclear warheads are already on the territory of Belarus, and the final transfer will be completed by the end of the year.