Russia is holding Belarus “nuclear hostage”, Kiev assessed today after the announcement, yesterday Saturday, by the Russian president Vladimir Putin that Moscow will deploy “regular” nuclear weapons on the territory of its ally.

“The Kremlin is holding Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council, said in a tweet today.

He even added that Russia’s decision is “a step towards the international destabilization of Belarus.”

“There is nothing unusual here: the United States has been doing this for decades. They have been developing their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies for a long time,” Putin said yesterday in an interview broadcast on Russian television.

“We agreed to do the same – without violating our commitments, I emphasize, without violating our international commitments on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,” he added.

In the wake of the Russian president’s announcement that Moscow will regularly deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, the US Department of Defense reassured that there is no indication that Russia plans to use nuclear weapons,

“We have seen reports of the Russian government’s announcement and will continue to monitor developments,” the US Department of Defense press office said in a written statement.

“We have seen no reason to readjust our nuclear stance and no indication that Russia plans to use a nuclear weapon. We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance”, he underlines.