Russia to withdraw nuclear weapons from Belarus if West abandons anti-Russian policy

Russia will withdraw tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus only if the US and NATO leave their destructive policy of targeted undermining of Russia.

The remarks came from the Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s second department of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries Aleksey Polishchuk, Kommersant reports.

He called the deployment of nuclear weapons a response to the "destabilising nuclear policy of NATO and Washington".

"In this connection, the hypothetical withdrawal of Russian TNWs from the territory of Belarus will be possible only if the United States and NATO abandon their destructive course of purposefully undermining the security of Russia and Belarus. This implies the complete withdrawal of all US nuclear weapons on US territory with the elimination of the relevant infrastructure in Europe," Polishchuk said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on March 25. It will be moved to the western borders of the Union of States. According to the agreement, the decision to use nuclear weapons rests with the Russian side. On July 7-8, the preparation of facilities for the deployment of the weapon was to be completed. NATO and the United States condemned the decision of the Russian authorities.