In the first expansion of the Russian nuclear stockpile since the end of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin has confirmed the arrival of some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, CNN reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the placement is meant to ensure Russian national security, but it also places the weapons in an ally abutting Ukraine’s northern border, and Putin has not ruled out using nuclear weapons to support its invasion.
The news was largely greeted with a yawn by the Biden Admintration, with Secretary of State Tony Blinken noting Belarusan President Alexander Lukashenko is a bigger suck-up to Putin than Donald Trump. “And as for Belarus itself, this is just another example of Lukashenko making irresponsible, provocative choices to cede control of Belarus’s sovereignty against the will of the Belarusian people,” said Blinken.