The intelligence of the United States of America has no doubts about the statement of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that Russia has allegedly already transported the first batch of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
This is reported by CNN.
Last month, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the dictator announced that "the first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus." He also added that they were placed there allegedly for "deterrence".
According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia has about 4,477 deployed and standby nuclear warheads, including about 1,900 tactical nuclear warheads.
During a conversation with journalists, high-ranking intelligence officials said that they had "no reason to doubt" Putin's words.
"Officials did not disclose why they think so. They admitted that it is difficult for American intelligence to track these weapons even with the help of satellite images," the publication writes.
As CNN notes, in the West at the beginning of the month there were doubts that Belarus had completed the modernization of the necessary storage facilities for the placement of tactical nuclear weapons. At the same time, other sources reported that there are various facilities in the country dating back to Soviet times, on which it is quite possible to place some part of the TAZ.
Also last week, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that "Putin doesn't always lie" and added that his country had "seen signs" of moving nuclear weapons.
"I will say that we continue to actively monitor reports of a Russian-Belarusian agreement to ensure that Russia maintains control of its weapons should it be deployed in Belarus and fulfills its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We will closely monitor any deviations from Russia," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
At the same time, the intelligence community does not believe that Oleksandr Lukashenko will have any control over the nuclear arsenal and that it will probably be fully controlled only by Russia.
"Representatives of the Ministry of Defense also stated that they do not believe that the transfer of weapons to Belarus will change the global nuclear landscape or increase the risk of a nuclear incident, since the weapons will be stored, not redeployed, and will be controlled by Russian forces," the publication adds.
As Miller noted, the United States does not plan to adjust the location of its own nuclear position and sees no signs that Russia may use the missiles.
