The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Brussels was ready to impose new sanctions on Belarus if Minsk were to host Russian nuclear weapons.

“Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions”, - he tweeted.

Russian President announced his country would station tactical nuclear arms in Belarus. Vladimir Putin said the deployment was similar to moves from the US, which stores such weapons in bases across Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, an analogy western allies called “misleading”.