Putin scares the world after the Kremlin's announcement that it intends to place tactical nuclear weapons and aircraft capable of transporting them on the territory of its ally Belarus.

An announcement that aroused the immediate, harsh reaction of the Ukrainian authorities at war with Moscow. “Russia is holding Minsk as a nuclear hostage,” Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov wrote on Twitter.

According to the American Institute for the Study of War, the Russian president probably wanted to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus even before the invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022 . However, according to analysts from the US research centre, Putin then decided to coincide the deployment of these weapons in Minsk with the launch of a new information campaign aimed at intimidating Ukraine and EU countries.

Also according to the Institute's report, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had suggested to Moscow to place nuclear weapons on the country's territory as early as November 30, 2021, so much so that in February 2022 Minsk had canceled the constitutional clause that guaranteed the neutral status of Belarus.

Meanwhile, in these hours Vladimir Putin has once again pointed his finger at the West: «Western analysts, not us, are saying that the West is starting to build a new axis similar to the one created in the 1950s. 30 by the Nazi regime in Germany, the fascist one in Italy and militarist Japan », the words of the Russian leader.

Again: “ The West is crossing all red lines, and even the deepest red lines, by supplying Ukraine with weapons . They have done this since the very beginning in 2014 when they facilitated a coup d'état in Ukraine."

With China "no military alliance" , the Russian president cut short: "This is absolutely false. We also collaborate on the technical-military front, we don't hide it, but it is transparent, there is nothing secret". . The deployment would represent “an irresponsible escalation and a threat to European security,” EU High Representative Josep Borrell wrote in a tweet. «Belarus can still stop this escalation, it is its choice. The EU is ready to respond with further sanctions".