The chief of Russia’s national security council has said Moscow is reserving the right to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to the enclave of Kaliningrad — situated between Lithuania and Poland — but has denied that Russia has done so.
On a visit to the enclave over the weekend, Sergei Ivanov said Russia “has not made an agreement with the international community not to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the … region.”
Ivanov was quoted by the Russia Interfax news agency.
However, he denied U.S. intelligence reports that say Moscow has already shipped tactical nukes to the region, despite an earlier pledge not to do so in the wake of the Cold War.
Igor Ivanov, Russia’s foreign minister, has also denied those reports, but he said previously there would be no reason why Moscow should not deploy nuclear weapons to Kaliningrad.
Security council chief Ivanov added that Russia may also bolster its overall military presence in the region should “events” warrant. He did not elaborate, but historically, Moscow has become unnerved by NATO’s continued eastward expansion. Russian officials have previously threatened to increase Moscow’s military posture in the West to thwart that expansion.
 Soviet-era SS-23 and launcher. The missile is believed to be equipped with an earth-penetrating warhead. |
Poland is already a NATO member and hopes to join the European Union by 2003. Lithuania, meanwhile, aspires to become a NATO and EU member, as well. Also, the Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia have considered NATO membership.
Ivanov’s comments follow a report in January that said U.S. intelligence officials had discovered that Russia had transferred tactical nuclear weapons to the Baltic enclave for the first time since the Cold War.
The deployment reportedly echoed threats made several years ago to do so to keep NATO penned in and prevent it from expanding its reach beyond the defense organization’s existing borders.
Kaliningrad — whose location can be viewed here — is a major base for Russian naval and ground forces. It is also home to Baltic Fleet headquarters.
U.S. intelligence officials detected the movement of the weapons last June. Though officials did not disclose the type of weapon delivery systems, officials said the nukes were probably for use on a new short-range missile known as the Toka. A Toka was test-fired on April 18 in Kaliningrad; they are said to have a range of about 44 miles.
In mid-February, U.S. officials said they had confirmed the precise location of the nuclear missiles. Officials said the weapons are believed to be stored in a special nuclear storage bunker near a military airfield.
“The Russians are denying it, but we know better,” one intelligence official told the Washington Times, which first reported the transfer.
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