MINSK, May 25. /TASS/. NATO’s joint nuclear missions are forcing Russia and Belarus to take appropriate retaliatory measures, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday.
"In the conditions of an extremely sharp aggravation of threats and the activities of NATO’s joint nuclear missions, we are forced to take retaliatory measures in the military-nuclear sphere. In accordance with the decision of our supreme commanders, we’ve deployed Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons on the territory of the Republic of Belarus," Shoigu said during talks with his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin in Minsk.
He recalled that Belarus had received the Iskander-M tactical missile system, which is capable of carrying not only conventional, but also nuclear weapons.
"A part of the Belarusian aircraft has been re-equipped for the possible use of nuclear weapons. The servicemen have been trained accordingly," Shoigu said.