The United Nations Security Council is preparing to convene an extraordinary session in response to Russia’s plan to place nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil. The United States Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Robert Wood, indicated that the meeting was slated for March 28 or 29.
“The meeting will take place tomorrow or Wednesday,” Wood stated. Ukraine had requested the Security Council to address the issue, stressing the need to prevent Moscow from deploying tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, affirmed Moscow’s willingness to participate in any format. “If a session is planned, we are ready. We have messages to convey at this gathering,” Nebenzya noted.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized Western responses as insufficient to Moscow’s move to field nuclear weapons in a neighboring state.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the ministry, attributed Western reactions to the decision to deepen military nuclear cooperation with Belarus as puzzling. She argued that the concept of joint nuclear missions originated in NATO countries and has persisted for decades. She claimed that the United States has upgraded both the nuclear devices and their delivery systems used in these missions.
Zakharova pointed to nuclear weapons stationed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey as central to this approach.
She added that Russia had shown restraint for years, but in a period described as a total hybrid war, it would be naive to expect Moscow not to respond to provocations.
The diplomat reaffirmed that Moscow was discussing the Union State, which operates under a unified military doctrine and security measures applied on its own soil.
Disagreement with Washington
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, also voiced criticism of Washington’s response to Moscow’s plan. Speaking on March 27, Antonov described statements by a U.S. deputy state department spokesperson as hypocritical.
The State Department has asserted that no other country has caused as much damage to arms control and has weakened European strategic stability more than Russia, according to U.S. officials.
Antonov countered that Washington has long undermined the bilateral legal framework, noting a perceived double standard in how actions are interpreted by U.S. officials.
She echoed Zakharova’s claim that European militaries hosting U.S. nuclear weapons could see their storage and use capabilities updated in the near term, with discussions about upgrading to newer, more advanced types of munitions.
Antonov argued that U.S. leadership has sent a message of broad latitude for American actions while constraining others, particularly Russia.
Where might nuclear weapons be stationed?
Experts from both foreign and Russian circles are examining potential sites for a storage facility in Belarus. President Putin indicated that construction could be completed by July 1.
In an interview with the program Kommersant, Pavel Podvig, a senior research fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and head of a project on Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons, recalled that Belarus housed Soviet-era storage facilities for such weapons. He cautioned that they are unlikely to be ready for rapid redeployment without substantial work.
Podvig suggested that satellite imagery might reveal changes related to redevelopment or new construction, though the full process may not yet be visible. He noted that in December 2022 Moscow stated it did not intend to place nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil, a claim he regards as relevant to assessing current plans.
According to the analyst, building a new storage facility within three months would be extremely challenging, if not impossible. He described the project as a complex engineering endeavor that would require a secure perimeter and fortified structures. Still, the possibility exists that officials might use terminology like warehouse to describe a site while the real purpose remains sensitive.
The analyst did not rule out the possibility that Russia could delay deployment while issuing a political signal to Western powers. On March 25, Putin announced that Minsk had requested Moscow to place tactical nuclear weapons on Belarus and train personnel. He said the storage facility would be ready by July 1 and expressed confidence that Moscow was compliant with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Earlier moves included transferring the Iskander missile system to Minsk and assisting in rearming Belarusian aircraft for potential use.
While the European Union called Moscow’s decision an irresponsible escalation that could trigger sanctions, NATO stated that Russia’s nuclear capabilities had not undergone fundamental changes.