Russia's nuclear rhetoric 'dangerous,' NATO says, after Putin talks of deployment deal with Belarus

NATO on Sunday criticized Russia for its "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

"NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own," a NATO spokesperson said.

"Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments. Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments, most recently suspending its participation in the New START Treaty."

A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russia's plan announced on Saturday would destabilize Belarus, which he said had been taken "hostage" by Moscow.

Although the move was not unexpected and Putin said it would not violate nuclear non-proliferation promises, it is one of Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago.

Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, called it "a step toward internal destabilization of the country," adding it maximizes what he called the level of "negative perception and public rejection" of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society.

"The (K)remlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage," he wrote on Twitter.

Putin likened his plans to the U.S. stationing its weapons in Europe, and said Russia would not be transferring control of the weapons to Belarus.

"We are not handing over (the weapons). And the U.S. does not hand (them) over to its allies. We're basically doing the same thing they've been doing for a decade," Putin said.

However, this could be the first time since the mid-1990s that Russia has based such weapons outside the country. Experts told Reuters the development was significant, since Russia had until now been proud that unlike the United States, it did not deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders.

Another senior Zelenskyy adviser on Sunday scoffed at Putin's plan, saying the Russian leader is "too predictable."

"Making a statement about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, he admits that he is afraid of losing & all he can do is scare with tactics," Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.

Washington, the world's other nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Putin's announcement and the potential for Moscow to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.

"We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. We remain committed to the collective defence of the NATO alliance," a senior U.S. administration official said.