President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia has reached an agreement with neighboring Belarus to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on its territory.
Putin told state television that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long raised the issue of deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares a border with Poland.
“There is nothing unusual here. First, the United States has been doing this for decades. “They have been deploying their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies for a long time,” he said.
“We have agreed to do the same without violating our obligations, I emphasize again, without violating our international obligations regarding nuclear non-proliferation.”
Putin said that Russia will complete the construction of the storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons by July 1. He added that Moscow will not transfer control of weapons to Minsk.
He said that Russia has deployed 10 aircraft capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, adding that Moscow has already transferred several Iskander tactical missile systems capable of launching nuclear weapons to Belarus.
In addition to Russia, Belarus shares borders with Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Voice of America