President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia mentioned he would be capable of place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by the summer time, a transfer that threatened to extend tensions with america and Europe whereas his forces wage conflict in Ukraine.

The Russian chief has repeatedly raised the specter of utilizing nuclear weapons since ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine final 12 months. Whereas U.S. officers have mentioned they’ve seen no effort by Russia to maneuver or make use of its nuclear weapons and imagine the danger of their use is low, worries have lingered.

Mr. Putin’s plan to station weapons in Belarus — a prospect he first floated final 12 months — may once more be saber rattling. It might not essentially change the battlefield calculus: Any targets that Moscow can strike from Belarus, which borders three NATO members, it may already strike from Russian territory.

Oleksiy Danilov, the pinnacle of the Ukrainian Nationwide Safety and Protection Council, accused the Kremlin of taking Belarus “as a nuclear hostage.” However American officers indicated that they didn’t instantly sense an escalation.

In an interview with state media launched on-line on Saturday, Mr. Putin mentioned that building on a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus could be accomplished by July 1, based on the Tass information company.

More and more remoted from the West, Mr. Putin has been counting on allies like Belarus — a rustic bordering Ukraine that was used as a staging floor for the full-scale invasion. Mr. Putin mentioned that President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus had requested that Moscow station the weapons on his soil, although it was not instantly clear in Mr. Putin’s Saturday remarks if or when nuclear weapons could be moved to the storage facility.

The announcement got here after Russia criticized Britain for giving Ukraine weapons with depleted uranium, falsely claiming that the fabric had a “nuclear part.” However Mr. Putin solid his announcement as “nothing uncommon,” saying america has lengthy deployed its personal nuclear weapons throughout the borders of its European allies.

“We are going to do the identical,” Mr. Putin mentioned on Saturday, based on the state-run Tass company. “With out violating, I need to emphasize this, our worldwide obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons,” he added.

Late on Saturday, the Pentagon launched an electronic mail assertion saying: “We now have seen stories of Russia’s announcement and can proceed to watch this example.” It added: “We now have not seen any purpose to regulate our personal strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is getting ready to make use of a nuclear weapon. We stay dedicated to the collective protection of the NATO alliance.”

The Institute for the Examine of Battle, a Washington-based analysis group, dismissed Mr. Putin’s announcement as an “data operation” with little threat of escalation.

“Putin is making an attempt to use Western fears of nuclear escalation,” it mentioned, including that the group “continues to evaluate that Putin is a risk-averse actor who repeatedly threatens to make use of nuclear weapons with none intention of following via with a view to break Western resolve.”

Russia has as many as 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which have a decrease yield than the strategic sort that may traverse total continents. A tactical nuclear weapon has by no means been utilized in fight, however one could possibly be deployed in quite a few methods, together with by missile or artillery shell.