MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will oversee strategic deterrence force drills scheduled for February 19 from the situation control center, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"Putin will most likely be in the situation control center. Such drills and training launches, naturally, can’t be held without the head of state. You know about the famous nuclear suitcase, the red button, and so on," Peskov told reporters.

The details of how President Putin will participate in the drills do not belong to the public domain, the Kremlin spokesman pointed out.

The presence of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the drills will depend on their joint decision with Putin, Peskov elaborated.

"If they decide to be there together, this means that they will be there together. But again, this will depend on a decision by the heads of state," the Kremlin spokesman explained.

The Belarusian president earlier told reporters that he would be on a visit to Russia on February 18-19, during which he was planning to attend military drills together with Putin. Lukashenko emphasized that "the Russian side will inform" about the place and the format of these maneuvers.

The Defense Ministry announced earlier on Friday that the Russian Armed Forces would conduct scheduled strategic deterrence force drills on February 19 under the direction of Russia’s President Putin.

As the ministry emphasized, the strategic deterrence force drills have been planned in advance and are intended "to inspect the preparedness of military command centers, launch combat teams, the crews of combat ships and strategic missile carriers for accomplishing assigned missions and the reliability of the strategic nuclear and conventional forces’ weapons."