Russia will place conventional nuclear weapons near the border of Belarus with NATO, said yesterday Sunday Boris Gryzlov, the country’s ambassador in Minsk, an announcement that comes amid further escalation of Russia’s conflict with the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin first announced on March 26 that Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed on the territory of the neighboring and allied country, 13 months after the start of the war in Ukraine, an announcement that was described as a clear message to the West.

The two Slavic neighbors have signed a “union” agreement and have been negotiating for years to further finalize it. The process was accelerated after Minsk decided to allow Moscow to use Belarusian territory when it launched the attack against Ukraine in February 2022.

The weapons will be deployed in the “western part” of Belarus to “guarantee the security” of “our union”, Mr Gryzlov told Belarusian state television. “This will be done despite the noise from Europe and the US,” he added.

The ambassador declined to give details of the sites where nuclear weapons would be developed, but confirmed that a nuclear storage facility would be completed by July 1, as ordered by Mr. Putin, in western Belarus.

Belarus is bordered to the north by Lithuania and Latvia and to the west by Poland – these are three member states of NATO’s eastern wing, which were strengthened by the deployment of additional troops and equipment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The US and other allies of Kiev have expressed their opposition to the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil. US President Joe Biden described this prospect as “disturbing”.

Minsk made clear on Friday that it would allow Moscow to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles on Belarusian territory if deemed necessary.

New Command of Poseidon Torpedo Submarines

In addition, the Russian Navy intends to form a new submarine command, which will be equipped with torpedoes capable of carrying a nuclear charge, of the “Poseidon” type, and will belong to the Russian Pacific Fleet, around the end of 2024 or the first half of 2025 at the latest , Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Moscow announced in January that it had produced its first Poseidon torpedoes, four years after President Putin unveiled this entirely new type of strategic nuclear weapon, when he confirmed it would have its own nuclear engine.

In late March, he said coastal infrastructure for submarines carrying the type’s torpedoes would be completed on the Kamchatka Peninsula, home to the Pacific Fleet’s ballistic missile submarine bases.

It was decided to form a new “special purpose” command, an unnamed source close to the Defense Ministry told TASS. The timeline predicts that it will be formed “around December 2024 or the first half of 2025.”

Little confirmed information is known about the Poseidon torpedo. Analysts are talking about a hybrid of a torpedo and a remote-controlled unmanned underwater vehicle, launched from a nuclear submarine.