MINSK. Aug 15 (Interfax) - The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus gives a proper response to Eastern Europe's militarization and intensifying military activity of the United States and NATO, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in his greetings to participants in the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security.
"Being committed to the provision of peace and security and international obligations undertaken earlier, Belarus acts together with partners and within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia and takes the utmost effort to strengthen interaction in the containment of transnational challenges and threats of various kinds. By hosting tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil, we give a proper response to accelerated militarization of Eastern Europe and intensifying military activity of the United States and NATO," the Belarusian presidential press service quoted Lukashenko as saying on Tuesday.
"However, this does not cancel the peace initiatives put forward by the Belarusian side to reset the dialogue on European and global security on equal terms to the benefit of the entire planet, our common home," Lukashenko said.
The current international situation is unprecedentedly tense, he said.
"Practically every known challenge and threat has escalated. International law in the field of arms control has been discredited. The risk of using weapons of mass destruction, including provocations with nuclear and biological weapons, is rising," Lukashenko said.
Information warfare and cybercrime have become a strong factor of economic and national instability for every state without exception, Lukashenko said. Restrictions and sanctions of every kind, which have evolved into a comprehensive global threat, are a new type of weapon that undermines the system of global trade and economic relations, he said.
The Moscow conference will contribute to the strengthening of cooperation between states and peoples and will serve as a significant phase in building a new system of international security, Lukashenko said.