Western criticism won't stop Russia from plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus

The Kremlin dismissed criticism from Western countries regarding Russia's decision to station nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement in an interview with Russian state media this week, explaining that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally, had agreed to the deployment, which prompted concerns from Western countries allied with Ukraine.

"Obviously, such a reaction cannot affect Russia’s plans," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.

The Russian leader said the move was in response to the United Kingdom's decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium. It serves as an effort to dissuade the U.K. and its NATO allies from continuing military support for Ukraine and marks another instance of Putin's nuclear saber-rattling since launching Russia's invasion last February.

“We’re just going to have to watch and see where this one goes,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on CBS. “We have not seen any indication that he’s made good on this pledge or moved any nuclear weapons around. We’ve, in fact, seen no indication that he has any intention to use nuclear weapons, period, inside Ukraine.”