7:54 p.m. ET, July 21, 2023
US intelligence officials see no reason to doubt Putin's claim that he has nuclear weapons in Belarus
From CNN's Natasha Bertrand
Putin speaks at the SPIEF 2023 St.Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Contributor/Getty Images/FILE
US intelligence officials have no reason to doubt Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that he has
moved a batch of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, senior officials with a division of the US Defense Department said Friday.
Putin said last month at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that “the first (Russian) nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus,” adding that they were placed there for “deterrence.”
Russia has about 4,477 deployed and reserve nuclear warheads, including around 1,900 tactical nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
It is not clear how much of that arsenal Putin intends to move, and Western officials have
never publicly confirmed that any weapons have been transferred to Belarus.
But senior officials with the US Defense Intelligence Agency told a small group of reporters Friday that analysts have “no reason to doubt” Putin’s claims about the transfer.
The officials would not disclose why they believe that. They acknowledged that the weapons are difficult for the US intelligence community to track, even through satellite imagery.
What we know so far: US and Western officials told CNN earlier this month that it did not appear Belarus had finished upgrading the necessary storage facilities to house tactical nuclear weapons, and that available satellite imagery had not shown any signs of the kind of preparations and security that would be standard at a Russian nuclear facility.
Other sources told CNN, however, that there are various facilities in Belarus, dating back to the Soviet era, that could feasibly house some of the weapons.
Asked last week whether he had seen signs that Russia had moved the weapons, UK Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace told CNN that the UK had “seen signs of this progressing,” and noted that Putin “doesn’t always lie.” When pressed, however, Wallace also declined to elaborate on the signs he had seen.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller similarly declined to answer questions earlier this month about where the weapons actually are located.
What role is Belarus playing? Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said last month that in the face of aggression, he would show “no hesitation” in using the Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed on his country's soil.
But the senior DIA officials said they do not believe Lukashenko would have any control over the arsenal. It would most likely be entirely controlled by Russia, the official said.
They also said that DIA does not believe the movement of the weapons to Belarus would alter the global nuclear landscape or increase the risk of a nuclear incident, because they would be in storage rather than forward deployed, and because they will be controlled by Russian forces.
Miller said the US has “not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture nor any indication Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.”