President Joe Biden on Tuesday told reporters he’s concerned about Russia's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports from the White House.

“They haven’t done that yet...  What’ve I been talking to you guys about for the last year? This is a dangerous kind of talk, and it’s worrisome,” Biden said.

On Saturday, Russia's Vladimir Putin announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The nuclear standoff between the U.S. and Russia has intensified amid the faltering New START treaty, which Moscow suspended involvement in last month.

The State Department said on Tuesday the U.S. would no longer share detailed data on strategic nuclear forces after Russia refused to do the same.

Asked by TURAN's correspondent whether this was the end of New START, State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the following:

"... I would reject the premise of your question because, as it relates to New START, we have been pretty clear from the get-go that we believe this treaty is an important, it’s a responsible one, and under international law the U.S. has a right to respond to breaches of the New START Treaty.  And if you recall, the Secretary [of State] spoke quite clearly about how irresponsible Russia’s decision to withdraw from the treaty was when the Russian Federation announced that news, I believe a number of weeks ago, when we were on travel in Europe."

The New START treaty, which will need to be renewed or extended before expiration in 2026, limits the number of nuclear weapons allowed for each nation and authorizes inspections of facilities and stockpiles to promote safety and stability.

Alex Raufoglu

Source - Turan.az

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29.03.2023 09:50