MINSK. March 31 (Interfax) - The possible deployment of tactical nuclear warheads in Belarus is a forced and exceptional response to risks facing the country, Belarusian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Valentin Rybakov said at a UN Security Council session in New York on Friday.
"The training by Russia of Belarusian pilots to fly planes carrying specific munitions, the relevant modernization of such planes, as well as the possible - I stress, the possible - stationing of tactical nuclear warheads in Belarusian territory are also an exceptional and forced response to national security challenges and threats facing the Republic of Belarus," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry quoted Rybakov as saying.
These measures strictly comply with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), he said.
"Russia will retain control over nuclear warheads, as well as technology. In line with the NPT, the countries possessing nuclear weapons must not transfer nuclear weapons, as well as control over such weapons, to any recipient, while non-nuclear countries must not receive nuclear weapons, as well as control over such weapons," he said.
To strengthen its defense capability and national security, Belarus is cooperating with Russia, as its main military-political ally, "in strict accordance with international law," Rybakov said.
Belarus "has been taking forced countermeasures to develop its own defense capability consistently and absolutely transparently to its neighbors and the entire international community," Rybakov said.
"These actions have been taken exclusively in response and are aimed at strengthening our own security and defense capability," he said.