Following Putin's decision to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus. Washington: No signs of Russia's willingness to use nuclear

The Pentagon said there were no indications that Russia was ready to use nuclear weapons, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, while the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is visiting Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant this week to assess its security situation.

The Pentagon said in a statement that it saw no reason to modify the strategic nuclear status after Moscow's decision on Saturday to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, which linked this decision to Washington's deployment of similar weapons in Europe, and Russia said it would not transfer control of those weapons to Belarus, and that this deployment would not violate the non-proliferation regime of weapons of mass destruction in the world.

A senior administration official said Russia and Belarus talked about an agreement on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons last year, reiterating Washington's commitment to NATO's collective defense doctrine.

The term tactical nuclear weapons refers to those used for specific gains on the battlefield rather than those that have the ability to annihilate cities.

It was unclear how many such weapons Russia possessed, as this is still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.

Tactical nuclear weapons usually have a much shorter range than nuclear weapons mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"Nuclear hostage"

In turn, the head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov warned on Sunday that Russia's plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will destabilize that country.

The Ukrainian official wrote on Twitter: "The Kremlin has taken Belarus hostage to a nuclear hostage."

Russian President Putin said on Saturday that his country would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, marking the first time since the mid-nineties that Moscow has deployed such weapons outside its territory.

Putin has repeatedly made veiled threats that he could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, raising fears of a return to a Cold War atmosphere.

Reciprocity

"Nothing unusual here: the United States has been doing this for decades, it has long been deploying its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its allies," Putin said, adding: "We agreed to do the same," confirming that Minsk's approval had been obtained.

"We have already helped our Belarusian colleagues and prepared their aircraft without violating our international obligations in terms of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, there are 10 aircraft ready to use this type of weapon," he said.

He explained that from the third of next April, Moscow will begin training teams, and on the first of July will complete the construction of a special depot for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus.

Putin has previously declared that nuclear tensions are "increasing" in the world, but stressed that Moscow will not use these weapons first.

Putin did not specify when the arms transfer would be to Belarus, which shares a border with three NATO members - Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Depleted uranium

The Russian president said Britain's supply of depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine was a Western attempt to thwart Chinese mediation to end the war in Ukraine.

Putin threatened to use depleted uranium shells in Ukraine if Kiev received similar munitions from the West, saying in an interview broadcast on state television on Saturday: "Russia of course has the response, we have without exaggeration hundreds of thousands of missiles of this type (depleted uranium) that we do not use at present."

The Russian president said these weapons "can be classified as the most harmful and dangerous to humans as well as to the environment."

Depleted uranium munitions are described as very effective at penetrating armored plates, but their use is controversial: the metal is toxic to soldiers using weapons and to civilians in the areas from which they are launched.

British Deputy Defence Secretary Annabelle Goldie indicated last week that the UK planned to supply Ukraine with missiles "containing depleted uranium" and said that "this munition is very effective at destroying tanks and modern armoured vehicles."

Zaporizhia Station

In another context, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi announced on Saturday that he will visit the Ukrainian Zaporizhya nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, this week, to assess the serious security situation there.

Grossi is pushing for a security zone around Ukraine and Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has six reactors and has been bombed repeatedly in recent months.

It will be Grossi's second visit to the station, which he visited last September, where he established a permanent presence of his agency's experts.

Russian forces took control of this station at the beginning of their offensive on Ukraine, and it remains near the front line, and the two sides occasionally blame each other for bombing it.