US finds no intel on Russia preparing to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine war

The United States has revealed that it does not possess any intel so far that hints whether Russia has ulterior motives to resort to nuclear warfare in its invasion of Ukraine. The Pentagon made the statement on Saturday while addressing Moscow's decision of deploying its its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

While no data gathered indicates any such possibility, the US has vowed to keep a close eye as the situation transpires. "We have seen reports of Russia's announcement and will continue to monitor this situation. We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance," the Pentagon said, according to TASS. 

Putin says Russia plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

This comes after President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia would be deploying its nuclear arsenal in Belarus at the request of Minsk. He justified that the US had done so with its European allies. “We are not going to hand over control of nuclear weapons. The US doesn’t hand it over to its allies. We’re basically doing the same thing (US leaders) have been doing for a decade,” Putin said, according to CNN.

But Washington has long been clear about the repercussions that would erupt if Russia goes ahead with adding nuclear warfare to the picture of the war. In October last year, US President Joe Biden told the outlet:  “It would be irresponsible for me to talk about what we would or wouldn’t do." The mistakes get made, the miscalculation could occur, no one could be sure what would happen and it could end in Armageddon,” he added.

According to Sky News, ten aircraft carrying an arsenal have already touched down in Belarus, with a storage center for the nuclear weapons in the works. The facility will be constructed by July 1 this year. An unnamed US official claims that the two nations had been discussing the move for "some time," and the deployment of nuclear weapons could be "political signalling."