brief paragraph summary, three line maximum: Russian President NAME_1’s latest round of nuclear saber rattling has drawn concern and condemnation from the West, but his promise to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus may do more to expose the Kremlin’s weakness than shift the dynamics of the war in Ukraine. NAME_2’s announcement that he would deploy the weapons on the territory of Moscow’s trusted neighbor and ally — which comes as Russia’s military is struggling to claim any new successes on the battlefield — was decried as “dangerous and irresponsible” by NATO, while Kyiv said it threatened “the international security system as a whole.” But the move is most likely just the latest attempt to use nuclear threats to intimidate Ukraine’s allies, military analysts said, and it may not just widen the ever-growing chasm between Moscow and the West but potentially test Russia’s growing friendship with China. NAME_2 made the announcement in an interview that aired Saturday night on Russian state TV, where he said storing the country’s tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus — which borders three NATO members, as well as both Russia and Ukraine — did not violate nuclear nonproliferation agreements and would, in fact, mirror Washington’s stationing its nuclear weapons in Europe for decades. Belarusian President NAME_3, a staunch ally whom NAME_2 propped up after violent protests nearly toppled “Europe’s last dictator” in 2020, had long requested the move, NAME_2 added. NAME_4 himself took nearly a week to respond, saying in an address to the nation Friday that he had intensified talks with NAME_2 “on the return of nuclear weapons to Belarus” to “safeguard” his country, which he said was under threat of invasion from the West.