The deployment of Russian nuclear weapons will begin in Belarus immediately after the preparation of facilities for them is completed on July 7-8.
This was stated by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
On May 25, Putin stated that Russia plans to finish building a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on July 1 and has already handed over the Iskander missile complex capable of carrying such weapons to the Belarusian army.
On the same day, Lukashenko said that the transfer of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus had already begun.
"It was necessary to prepare storage places and other things. We did it all. Therefore, the transfer of nuclear ammunition began. It has already started," he noted.
- On May 25, the defense ministers of Belarus and Russia Viktor Khrenin and Serhiy Shoigu, signed documents on the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. In this way, Russia will place tactical nuclear weapons in a special storage facility in Belarus, and only it will be able to control them. According to Khrenin, the agreement is "an effective response to the aggressive policy of countries unfriendly to us."
- Putin then stated that Lukashenko had long raised the issue of deploying Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Putin says that the US has long deployed such weapons in a number of countries, so there is "nothing unusual" in Belarusʼ request.
- On May 29, Lukashenko advised those willing to obtain nuclear weapons to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus.