MINSK. May 25 (Interfax) - The transportation of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to the Republic of Belarus has begun, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.
"The fact is that he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] informed me [during the Eurasian Economic Forum] that he had signed a decree into law on our actions to deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus. In other words, a specific document was mentioned. A decision has been adopted further to what was said orally. [We] had to prepare storage locations and other things. We did all of this. Consequently, the transporting of the nuclear warheads has begun. It has started now," Lukashenko said in an interview with the media, an excerpt of which was published by the Belarusian presidential press service on Thursday.
When asked a follow-up question as to whether tactical nuclear weapons have arrived in Belarus already, Lukashenko promised to clarify this after he returns to the country.
"Possibly. When I arrive, I will check," he said.
Lukashenko said earlier that while taking part in the Eurasian Economic Forum, he had thanked Putin for the decision to station Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu signed documents earlier on Thursday in Minsk to determine the procedures regulating the storage of Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons at a special storage depot in Belarus.
In March 2023, Putin revealed that he and Lukashenko had agreed on stationing tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. Belarus received an Iskander missile system, which can carry tactical nuclear weapons, Putin said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said later on April 26 that Belarusian military personnel had thoroughly studied how to use special tactical ordnance with the Iskander-M missile system during training sessions in Russia. According to open source data, ordnance with a nuclear warhead for the Iskander-M missile system is referred to as special tactical ammunition.
On April 14, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it had finished training Belarusian military personnel to operate the Sukhoi Su-25 assault aircraft. In the course of their training, Belarusian service members mastered new methods for using modern airborne weapons, including special ammunition, it said.
Lukashenko said earlier that if needs be, he would agree with Putin on stationing strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus as well.