Russia moves ahead with deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu shakes hands with Belarusian Defence Minister Victor Khrenin during a meeting in Minsk, Belarus May 25, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia moved ahead on Thursday with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, whose leader said the warheads were already on the move, in the Kremlin's first deployment of such bombs outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

The U.S. State Department denounced the deployment plan, but said Washington had no intention of altering its position on strategic nuclear weapons or seen any signs Russia was preparing to use a nuclear weapon.