UNITED NATIONS, March 31. /TASS/. Russia confirms that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said on Friday.
"Yes, we confirm that there can be no winners in a nuclear war," he said at a session of the UN Security Council on Russia deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Nebenzya pointed out that "in the 1990s, Russia exerted every effort to withdraw nuclear arms from the countries of the former USSR to its soil." "We repeatedly called on Americans to do the same - to abandon the Cold War mindset and return all US nuclear weapons stateside," he emphasized. "We also urged to eliminate the relevant infrastructure in Europe and cease the practice of long-standing violations of the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty - TASS) by the US and other NATO players by holding the so-called joint nuclear missions. We repeatedly publically stated that such practice is incompatible neither in letter nor in spirit with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and urged NATO countries to adjust their policy in compliance with assumed obligations," he explained.
As for the deployment of Russian nuclear arms in Belarus, this measure does not contradict the NPT, the Russian diplomat stressed. "In our turn, we are building interaction with Belarus without violating our international obligations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," Nebenzya said. "[Russian] President Vladimir Putin directly pointed out that we are not handing over nuclear weapons. This is about handing over the Iskander-M tactical missile system to the Republic of Belarus, re-equipping the aircraft of the Belarusian Air Force and training flight crews, as well as building a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil which will be controlled by Russia," he added.
On March 25, Putin declared that Russia, at Minsk’s request, would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, precisely the way the United States deployed its own nuclear arms on the territory of its allies. Moscow has already handed over to Minsk the nuclear-capable Iskander system. According to the Russian leader, the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory would be completed on July 1.