Belarus has received nuclear weapons from Russia and is willing to use them if necessary. This was stated by the deputy chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces, as reported by the state news agency Belta on a Belarusian television channel.

The head of the army stressed that Belarusian specialists have also received the necessary training for the use of Russian nuclear weapons. According to him, this would have been done using simulators and real objects.

“We have the motivation, we are willing, if necessary, to defend our country with all the means we have,” he said, according to Belta. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that Russia would place nuclear weapons in Belarus and that the neighboring country would not gain control over the weapons.

Improve storage facilities
Putin announced in June that he had sent a shipment of nuclear weapons to Belarus, after announcing the move earlier in the year. Although US intelligence services had no doubts about this, at the time it did not appear that Belarus had finished upgrading the storage facilities needed for tactical nuclear weapons.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia has more than 4,477 nuclear warheads, including about 1,900 tactical nuclear weapons. It is unclear how many nuclear weapons from this arsenal are currently in Belarus. It is the first time since the mid-1990s that Russia has kept these types of weapons outside its borders.

Russia defends the transfer of nuclear weapons by pointing out that the United States has kept some of its nuclear weapons with allies in Europe for decades. The country’s president also said that the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty is not being violated. It has been agreed, among other things, to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Other countries involved in this agreement are the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China. (AP)