NATO Sees No Change in Russia’s Nuclear Posture After Lukashenko’s Claims

NATO’s secretary general said on Thursday that the alliance had seen no evidence of a change in Russia’s nuclear position, days after a claim by President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus that the country had started to receive nuclear weapons from Russia.

Mr. Lukashenko claimed this week in an interview with Russian state television that Belarus had received “a bomb three times more powerful than Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” The threatened provocation is the latest sign of the worsening relationship between Russia and the West.

Mr. Lukashenko’s claim could not be independently verified. For months, he and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, a close ally, have talked publicly about plans to move tactical nuclear weapons — short-range weapons designed for use in battle — into Belarus. That would put such weapons closer to the war in Ukraine, but would also position them closer to NATO members like Poland.

The NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg, told reporters that the alliance was closely monitoring Russia but that “so far, we haven’t seen any changes in the nuclear posture that requires any changes in our posture.”

He noted that Russia had “deployed more nuclear capabilities, including close to NATO borders, for instance, in the high north.” He called Russia’s nuclear messaging “reckless and dangerous.”

The U.S. government estimates Russia has about 2,000 tactical weapons, which have lower explosive power than strategic weapons designed to destroy entire cities far from the battlefield.

There was no immediate response from the White House to Mr. Lukashenko’s claim. On Monday, the National Security Council spokesman, John F. Kirby, said the Biden administration had seen no evidence of changes in Russia’s nuclear deployments that would force the United States to change its posture with respect to nuclear weapons. He said the “constant rhetoric” from Mr. Lukashenko was “in keeping with reckless and irresponsible ways of talking about nuclear capabilities.”

Mr. Lukashenko’s statement that the weapons were already arriving appeared to contradict remarks by Mr. Putin when the two leader met in Sochi, Russia, last week.

At the time, Mr. Putin said that Russia would start deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus immediately after storage facilities were made ready on July 7 and 8, according to a Kremlin translation of the conversation between the two leaders.

Mr. Putin has raised the prospect of resorting to nuclear weapons several times since he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. U.S. officials have repeatedly condemned Mr. Putin’s remarks as dangerous saber-rattling, but they have also said the risk of nuclear escalation remains low.

In March, Mr. Putin said that he would be able to position nuclear weapons in Belarus by the summer, a claim analysts said was probably bluster to put pressure on the West to halt its support of Ukraine. Mr. Putin said that Moscow would remain in control of the weapons placed in Belarus.

In May, Russian and Belarusian defense ministers signed an agreement detailing how to store Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus. Mr. Lukashenko said the relocation of the weapons had already begun by that point.