MOSCOW, March 27: The Russian presidency said on Monday that Western reactions would not change Moscow's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. Western reactions "of course cannot influence Russian plans" to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russian news agency TASS quoted Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recently that Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in addition to ten warplanes capable of carrying nuclear warheads. In response to a question about the possibility of Russia demanding compensation for the bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, Peskov said that it is necessary to determine those responsible for this act of sabotage, adding that preliminary data indicates the impossibility of carrying out this act without the participation of countries and intelligence services with great capabilities.

Peskov accused the Western countries of trying hard to prevent the topic from being raised in international forums, saying that Russia will work to raise the issue of the Nord Stream for discussion and not allow it to be obscured. Russia urged the United Nations to conduct an international investigation into the issue of the bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea last September. The Russian Public Prosecutor had instituted a criminal case to investigate this incident, which led to the cutting off gas supplies to Europe.

EU warns
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU), Monday, said the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus would be a threat to European security and warned of consequences. "If this will be followed up that will be further escalation and direct threat to European security," EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and foreign policy Peter Stano told a news conference here today. "We haven't seen any confirmation yet from the Belarusian side of this being on the agenda or happening any time. But if it would happen of course there would be consequences," he warned. "It would be an escalation and would be endangering of European security and it would not be left unanswered by EU member states," added Stano. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced that Moscow would deploy "tactical nuclear weapons" in Belarus, according to Russian media. Putin said Russia would also position nuclear-armed Iskander hypersonic missiles, with a range of around 300 miles (482 kms), in Belarus.(KUNA)