Kremlin blasts Western ‘hysteria’ over Russian nuclear plans

Western countries are hyping up hysteria around Russia’s plan to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov suggested in an interview released on Sunday.

Speaking to Russia 1 TV, Peskov blasted what he called the West’s “extremely unrestrained” reaction to President Vladimir Putin’s decision to deploy nukes in Belarus this summer, which followed repeated requests from his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

“The collective West is not inclined to recall… [that] American nuclear weapons are stationed here, in Europe, around our country,” the spokesman said. He also claimed that the West “is prone to hysterical reaction” in relation to Moscow’s plans to build a nuclear storage facility in Belarus, which is widely regarded as a key Russian ally.