MINSK. June 13 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said the planned deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus was due to an urgent request he made to Russia.
"Russia is not seeking anything [by stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus]. It's not about Russia," Belarus's BelTA state news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying while on a working trip to the Minsk region on Tuesday.
Lukashenko "stressed that the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus was his request and strong demand [made to] Russia in order to guarantee our country's security," BelTA said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said while meeting with Lukashenko on June 9 that Russian tactical nuclear weapons would start being moved to Belarus after July 7-8, when the construction of the required infrastructure is completed.
Meeting in Minsk on May 25, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin signed documents regulating the handling of Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons at a special storage facility in Belarus. "Russia is not handing nuclear weapons over to the Republic of Belarus, and control over them and a decision on their use will still rest with Russia," Shoigu said in Minsk at the time.
According to official information, the Iskander-M tactical missile system was designed at the Kolomna-based Machine-Building Design Bureau, part of Rostec's High-Precision Systems holding. It has been reported that these missiles can carry a nuclear warhead. The Iskander missile system variant used by the Russian Armed Forces includes both ballistic and cruise missiles.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on April 26 that Belarusian military specialists had been extensively trained to use the "special tactical munitions" of the Iskander-M missile system.
The term 'special tactical munitions' in Russian military jargon refers to an Iskander-M missile system armed with a nuclear warhead.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on April 14 that it had completed the training of Belarusian officers to operate Sukhoi Su-25 attack planes. It was reported officially that the Belarusian pilots had been trained in new methods of using modern air-launched ordnance, including special (nuclear) munitions.