UN Security Council to discuss Russian nuclear arms deployment in Belarus this week

A meeting of the UN Security Council regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will take place this week.

Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly Stéphane Dujarric made the remarks at the briefing on March 27, European Pravda reports.

"As far as I know, the meeting [of the UN Security Council regarding Putin's statement – ed.] should take place this week. But this, of course, is a matter for the Security Council itself," he said, answering a question from a Ukrinform journalist.

Previously, Ukraine itself requested to convene a meeting of the UN Security Council, calling the Russian president's move an act that undermines the principles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the nuclear disarmament architecture and the international security system as a whole.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 27 March that Belarus would deploy tactical nuclear weapons by July, and compared his nuclear plans to the US deployment of its weapons in Europe. He insisted that Russia would not break its nuclear non-proliferation promises.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell called these plans a threat to European security. NATO called Russia's nuclear rhetoric "dangerous and irresponsible".