NEW DELHI, March 27. /TASS/. Russia’s decision to put tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is logical, as the US has its own similar weapons deployed in Europe, says Robinder Sachdev, president of the Imagindia Institute think tank in New Delhi.
"This decision should be considered in a context where European countries that are allies of the United States of America have nuclear weapons that have been provided by Washington. So there is nothing unusual about Russia arming its ally countries. Now it’s a tit-for-tat world," the expert told TASS Monday.
According to Sachdev, Russia’s decision is logical.
"In my opinion, this is classic international relations - one side arms itself, so the other side arms itself," the expert noted.
On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus at Minsk’s request, like the US does on its allies’ territory. Moscow has already handed over the Iskander missile system, which can launch missiles with nuclear payload, and construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed by July 1, he said.
The Russian president noted that his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko has been raising the question of putting Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for a long time. The Russian leader pointed out that the agreement with Belarus does not violate the international obligations on non-proliferation.