MINSK. May 25 (Interfax) - The decision of Russia and Belarus to take countermeasures in the military nuclear sphere is a response to the steep escalation of threats on their western borders, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"A decision on countermeasures in the military nuclear sphere has been made in the wake of the steep escalation of threats on the western borders of Russia and Belarus," Shoigu said at a meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Minsk on Thursday.
An Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system, which can deliver both conventional and nuclear warheads, has been handed over to the Belarusian Armed Forces, and some of the Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft have been modified to carry nuclear weapons, he said.
"Belarusian servicemen have been properly trained at Russian centers," Shoigu said.
He informed his counterparts about documents signed together with the Belarusian defense minister on Thursday morning "to lay down rules for a special storage facility for nuclear munitions in the Belarusian territory."
"Please note that all of those measures have been organized in strict compliance with the existent international obligations and there is no breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.
"Russia retains control and usage authorization," Shoigu said.