Name: Putin Stations Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus, Raising Alarm From White House
Uploaded: 2023-05-26T07:53:53.000Z
Description: Russian President Vladimir Putin earned fresh condemnation from President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday after moving forward with a plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring ally Belarus.

Nikou Bani

NTD Plus

News

News with integrity, from the United States and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

New York State Orders 12 Law Enforcement Agencies to Cut Ties With ICE

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

Federal Judge Blocks Houston Race-Based Program

Jason Blair is a national correspondent for NTD News based in California. 

Jason Blair

RFK Jr. Pushes Higher Standards for Mental Health, Recovery Care

Jason Perry is an Army veteran and NTD's national security correspondent. Jason primarily covers border security, national defense, foreign wars, and veterans' issues.

Jason Perry

Heavy Rain Brings Dangerous Flooding to East Coast

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

Fauci Should Face 'Civil Liability With a Class Action Lawsuit': Mom's for Liberty Co-Founder

Christina Corona is a California-based reporter for NTD News. She primarily covers California news, politics, and entertainment.  

Christina Corona

Voter ID Backers Sue Bonta Over Ballot Language

Dave Martin is NTD's Senior Sports Reporter and sports analyst. He also hosts "Data Hub" segments during NTD's special election coverage, "The Nation Decides."

Dave Martin

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Not Pitching With Arm, Leg Injuries

Dr. Robert Malone Floats Term Limits to Counter Corruption After Fauci Pleads 5th

Arian Pasdar is an international correspondent for NTD News based in South America. His reporting focuses on immigration and key events in Latin America.

Arian Pasdar

Zelenskyy Says He Asked Trump and the Senate for Defense Missiles

Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at zack.stieber@epochtimes.com

Zachary Stieber

Jack Bradley is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Jack previously anchored "NTD Newsroom" and worked as an assistant producer for the show. 

Jack Bradley

US News

Politics

Congress

Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment More Than 100 Times During Senate COVID Hearing

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 29)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 28)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 27)

Chris Beers is an NTD News anchor and political correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Chris co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Chris Beers

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 26)

Paul Greaney is an NTD news anchor and producer. Since joining the company in 2018, he has anchored the station’s flagship Evening News broadcast, launched the NTD Business show, and produced documentary reports on pointed issues. 

The highlight of Paul’s time in the field was his coverage of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Paul Greaney

Full Episodes

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 25)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 24)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 23)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 22)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 21)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 20)

Tom Gantert is a reporter for The Epoch Times.

Tom Gantert

Melina Wisecup is NTD's congressional correspondent based in Washington, covering Capitol Hill and campaign politics.

Melina Wisecup

Executive Branch

Trump Uses Recent Speeches to Warn Americans of Resurging Communism

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

Shows

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

2.8 Million People in China Evacuated Amid Typhoon Bavi

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

Breaking news and in-depth analysis from the United States and beyond. We bring you the latest updates, exclusive insights, and sharp discussions on the most pressing issues. NTD Newsroom airs Monday–Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

US Announces Visa Restrictions Targeting Cybercriminals

NTD Movies

NTD+ Movies

The Unrestricted War

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

House Passes Legislation to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent

Troy Myers is a regional reporter based in St. Augustine, Florida. His background includes breaking, criminal justice, and investigative writing for local news, producing on a national morning newscast in Washington, D.C., and working with an award-winning, weekly investigative news program. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his dog at the beach.

Troy Myers

Courts

Appeals Court Upholds Block on Trump Order to Tighten Mail-In Voting, Citizenship Verification

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

Sen. Lindsey Graham Likely Died After Aorta Tear, Medical Examiner Says

Mary Man is a writer for NTD. She has traveled around the world covering China, international news, and arts and culture.

Mary Man

China News

China Floods: Thousands at Risk After Multiple Dams Collapse in Guangxi

Jackson Richman is a Washington correspondent for The Epoch Times. In addition to Washington politics, he covers the intersection of politics and sports/sports and culture. He previously was a writer at Mediaite and Washington correspondent at Jewish News Syndicate. His writing has also appeared in The Washington Examiner. He is an alum of George Washington University.

Jackson Richman

House Passes Defense Policy Bill That Attaches SAVE America Act

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. 

Jack Phillips

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

Leavitt Previews Trump's Thursday Election Speech

Russian President Vladimir Putin earned fresh condemnation from President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday after moving forward with a plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring ally Belarus.

Putin first described <a href="https://www.ntd.com/putin-says-russia-will-place-tactical-nuclear-weapons-in-neighboring-country_909718.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plans to move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus</a> in March. On Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko <a href="https://sputnik.by/20230525/lukashenko-nachato-peremeschenie-yadernykh-boepripasov-iz-rf-v-belarus-1075946462.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik that the tactical nuclear deployment had begun.

The deployment marks the first time Russian tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed outside of Russia since 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia has armed Belarus with Iskander-M missiles, which are hypersonic missiles that can carry conventional or nuclear warheads. He also said Russia had transferred some Su-25 aircraft that have been converted to be able to launch nuclear weapons.

"Belarusian servicemen have received the necessary training," Shoigu was quoted as saying by his ministry.
<h2>Tactical Nuke Deployment 'Irresponsible and Provocative': White House</h2>
Tactical nuclear weapons are envisioned as a means of delivering the destructive power of a nuclear weapon in a relatively limited battlefield space. These weapons are usually smaller in yield than the strategic nuclear weapons designed to destroy entire cities during the Cold War.

"We've seen the reports of the Russia, Belarus arrangement and will continue to monitor, certainly, the implications here," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Thursday White House press briefing.

Jean-Pierre said the U.S. side has not seen indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon and so the United States will not change its own nuclear posture in response. She did, however, condemn the move.

"This is yet another example of [Putin] making irresponsible and provocative choices," she said. "We remain committed to a collective defense of the NATO alliance, and I'll just leave it there."

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller similarly criticized the tactical nuclear weapon deployment in Belarus.

"We strongly condemn the arrangement," Miller told reporters at a Thursday press briefing. "It's the latest example of irresponsible behavior that we have seen from Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine over a year ago."

Miller added that the use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons in the Russia-Ukraine conflict "would be met with severe consequences," though he did not elaborate on what those consequences might be.
<h2>Tit-For-Tat Escalations</h2>
Russian officials have tied the tactical nuclear deployment in Belarus to U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) support for the Ukrainian government, which has been fighting Russian invasion forces since February of last year.

"The collective West is essentially waging an undeclared war against our countries," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart in Minsk, according to Russia's defense ministry.

The U.S. and NATO have gradually escalated support for Ukrainian forces, beginning by sending man-portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft launchers at the start of the war in February. As time has progressed, western allies have provided Ukrainian forces with <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3103655/more-himars-phoenix-ghost-drones-bound-for-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">self-destructing anti-personnel drones</a>, <a href="https://www.ntd.com/biden-confirms-us-sending-advanced-rocket-systems-munitions-to-ukraine_787666.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advanced HIMARS rocket launchers</a>, <a href="https://www.ntd.com/2-5-billion-aid-sends-strykers-but-no-tanks-to-ukraine_896169.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">armored fighting vehicles,</a> and <a href="https://www.ntd.com/biden-announces-us-sending-m1-abrams-tanks-to-ukraine_897190.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tanks</a>.

Biden <a href="https://www.ntd.com/biden-says-no-f-16s-for-ukraine-as-russia-claims-gains_898031.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">ruled out transferring F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine</a> in January of this year, but <a href="https://www.ntd.com/biden-announces-new-military-aid-in-meeting-with-ukraines-zelenskyy-in-japan_920794.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">reversed course</a> after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G-7 summit of world leaders in Hiroshima, Japan, over the weekend. After relenting to Zelenskyy’s requests for fighter jets, Biden <a href="https://www.ntd.com/biden-says-zelenskyy-gave-flat-assurance-he-wont-use-f-16s-in-russia_920818.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">said</a>, “I have a flat assurance from Zelenskyy that they will not use [the F-16s] to go on and move into Russian geographic territory.”

Russian officials have also raised alarm this week after a group of self-described Russian rebels carried out a cross-border raid from Ukraine into the Belgorod region of western Russia. Photographs and videos purported to show some of these cross-border raiders using U.S.-made Humvee and MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. On Wednesday, Miller <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-may-24-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the U.S. side was investigating whether U.S. equipment was in-fact used in the cross-border raid and said "we don’t support the use of U.S.-made equipment being used for attacks inside of Russia."

<em>Reuters contributed to this article.</em>

World News

Videos

nuclear weapons

Latest Clips

Belarus

Russia–Ukraine War

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Sam Wang is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Sam covers politics on Capitol Hill, and U.S.-China relations. 

Sam Wang

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.

Putin Stations Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus, Raising Alarm From White House

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (July 30)

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.