On Tuesday, Russia announced it will take defensive countermeasure immediately following the introduction of Finland as NATO’s newest member.
Finland became the 31st member of the U.S.-led military alliance after a historic strategic shift, and one of the fastest membership processes in NATO’s recent history, triggered by Russia’s invasion of its other western neighbor, Ukraine.
“The Kremlin believes that this is another aggravation of the situation. NATO enlargement is an encroachment on our security and the national interests of the Russian Federation, we talked about it. And that’s how we see it. And, of course, this forces us to take countermeasures to ensure our own security both tactically and strategically,” Peskov said.
Peskov described Helsinki’s new military alignment as an “escalation” and an “encroachment on Russia’s security and national interests.”
Russia has announced that it has already stationed Iskander missiles and delivery systems capable of deploying nuclear weapons inside of Belarus.
ABC News reported:
Putin has said that construction of storage facilities for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will be complete by July 1 and added that Russia has helped modernize Belarusian warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The two neighbors have an agreement envisioning close economic, political and military ties.
Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground for invading Ukraine and has maintained a contingent of troops and weapons there.
More from Zero Hedge:
Taking a more ominous and threatening tone, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in a televised press briefing confirmed that Belarus had receieved aircraft and Iskander missiles capable of delivering tactical nuclear strikes.
“Several of Belarus ground attack aircraft received the ability to strike at enemy targets with nuclear weapons,” he said.
“Besides, Iskander-M operational tactical missile system was handed over to the armed forces of Belarus. It can use both conventional and nuclear missiles.”
