Minsk will receive Russian tactical nuclear weapons within days, says Belarusian leader.
Russian tactical nuclear weapons will be deployed in Belarus within “a few days”, President Alexander Lukashenko said, according to Belarusian state media.
Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Minsk was ready to receive the weapons, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the weapons would be deployed from July 7 to 8.
“Everything is ready. I think in a few days we will have what we asked for, and even a little bit more,” he said in a comment quoted by the Belta news agency on Tuesday.
Lukashenko warned that he would not hesitate to use the weapons in response to potential aggressors.
“Why do we need them? To ensure that no foreign soldier sets foot on Belarusian land again,” he said.
“God forbid I have to make a decision to use these weapons. But we will not hesitate in case of aggression against us.”
This is the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union that Moscow has moved nuclear warheads abroad.
Putin has portrayed the war in Ukraine as a battle between Russia’s security and the expanding NATO alliance and has said the West is pumping weapons to Ukraine in a proxy war with Moscow.
In March, he announced the decision to move weapons to Belarus, a launch pad for Moscow’s “special military operation”, citing the deployment of US weapons in European countries as justification.
While the United States has condemned the plan, it says it has no intention of changing its stance on strategic nuclear weapons and has seen no signs that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Lukashenko said Minsk was also working to ensure that Belarusian facilities could accommodate longer-range strategic weapons. There was no urgent need, however, as Moscow had not yet discussed supplying the weapons, he said.
“What do I need strategically [missiles] like the Topols for? Although we are now also preparing locations for these weapons. She [the Soviet-era sites] are all alive and well, except one. So if it is necessary, we can do it at any time [house them]Belta quoted Lukashenko.
“But the Topol is an intercontinental missile. Am I planning to go to war with America? No, that’s why this [tactical nuclear weapons] are enough for me now,” he said.
The war in Ukraine has led to what both Russia and the US say is their most tense relationship since the Cold War.