(Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin said he may deploy the new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in Belarus in the second half of next year, bolstering an ally that’s been a staging ground for Russian attacks on Ukraine.
The weapons will be part of Russia’s military but the Belarusian leadership would determine any targets, the Russian leader said on Friday at a meeting in Minsk with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, according to a video posted by the Kremlin on Telegram. Lukashenko requested the deployment, he said.
The Russian leader underscored how such a move would help the Kremlin project its might, saying that “the shorter the range, the greater the power of the warhead.”
Putin warned at the end of last month that his forces could strike “decision-making centers” in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with the new ballistic missile in retaliation for attacks on Russia using Western weapons. Kremlin forces had earlier in the month used the Oreshnik, which the president said could replicate the force of a nuclear bomb if used in massive quantities, to hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
While the announcement may ratchet up tension with Europe and the US amid the Kremlin’s ongoing war in Ukraine, it’s unclear to what degree it would change the strategic balance on the continent, given other weapons Russia has deployed to Belarus and in its Kaliningrad exclave.
In June 2023, Putin said Russia had deployed some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, and since then the two countries’ forces have held combat drills to practice using them. Putin also has said Russia would defend its ally Belarus with nuclear weapons if necessary.
Lukashenko said earlier this year that Belarus will only use nuclear weapons in defense if attacked, according to the state-run Belta news service. The longtime ally of Putin allowed his country to be a launchpad for part of the invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022.
Russia has Iskander ballistic missiles stationed in Kaliningrad, which is wedged between Poland and Lithuania. Those are geographically closer to military targets in the Baltic Sea and western Europe than they would be if stationed in Belarus. Russia has used the short-range ballistic missile system frequently in deadly attacks on Ukraine.
(Updates with additional background throughout, as well as Putin quote in the third paragraph.)
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