The Russian Foreign Ministry explained the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russia is deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus as part of strengthening the security of the Union State, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

“In the context of the all-out hybrid war unleashed by the West against Russia and the declared intention of the United States and NATO to inflict a “strategic defeat” on us, it was naive to continue to count on the complete absence of any military-technical countermeasures on our part in this area. We have reserved and still reserve the right to take the necessary additional steps to ensure the security of Russia and its allies,” the press service of the Foreign Ministry quoted Zakharova as saying.

She recalled that the United States, within the framework of the concept of “joint nuclear missions” with NATO countries, has deployed its nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, while the military of these countries is actively trained in its use. The weapon itself is undergoing constant modernization, she added.

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the completion of the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Belarus by July of this year. The President noted that Moscow is not transferring nuclear weapons to Minsk, but is doing what the United States has been doing for many years – deploying tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of allies and training their pilots in handling them.

There is nothing unusual in the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in the republic, the Russian president pointed out, noting that the United States has been doing the same thing for decades: American nuclear weapons have been placed on the territory of NATO countries in Europe. Russia has already handed over to the republic the Iskander complex, which can be the carrier of such weapons.