PARIS, April 6. /TASS/. France has come out against the proliferation of nuclear weapons outside the countries possessing them and believes it is important to rule out the possibility of their use in the current conflict in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference on Thursday following talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"France shares [China's] desire that nuclear weapons not be used in this conflict. This means complying with international treaties in this area. Also, in no case should nuclear weapons be deployed outside the countries that possess them, especially in Europe," he said.
In this context, Macron mentioned Russia’s recent decision to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. According to him, this move violates Russia’s "international commitments and international law."
On March 25, President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia, at Minsk’s request, would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil, precisely the way the US has deployed its own nuclear arsenal on the territory of its allies. Moscow has already transferred the nuclear-capable Iskander system to Minsk. According to the Russian head of state, the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons within the borders of Belarus is scheduled to be completed by July 1.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that on April 3, Belarusian crews started training on how to use the system for the protection of the Union State at a Russian training range.
The deployment of Russian nuclear arms in Belarus does not contradict the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told a meeting of the UN Security Council. He stressed that in accordance with the statement of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow is not transferring nuclear weapons to Minsk; they will be under Russian control. At the same time, the diplomat pointed to Russia’s efforts in the 1990s to withdraw nuclear weapons from former Soviet republics and move them to its territory as well as repeated calls for the USA to abandon its Cold War mentality and follow Russia’s example by returning its nuclear weapons to American soil.