MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The schedule for the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus remains in force, but there is no change in who controls them, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Friday after attending the annual meeting of friends of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund.

"The work schedule concerning the resolution of this issue was made public in the Russian president’s statements. We proceed from that fact that it remains in force. There are no amendments or additions to what has been said about this before," the deputy foreign minister said.

"I would like to underscore that there is no transfer of control over nuclear weapons to anyone within the ongoing measures," Ryabkov added.

The Russian deputy foreign minister pointed out that it is common practice in NATO to train pilots of non-nuclear-weapon states, and also conduct training on how to handle nuclear weapons. According to Ryabkov, this differs drastically from the work within the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

"There [in NATO] we deal with a so-called nuclear alliance, and here we deal with the Union State, as it does share a defense perimeter. NATO’s actions have been and remain a serious breach of key articles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," he said.

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that at Minsk’s request, Moscow would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, similar to what the United States had long been doing on the territory of its allies. Moscow has already provided Minsk with Iskander tactical missile systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons and has helped Minsk to re-equip its planes to carry specialized weapons. Belarusian missile crews and pilots have undergone training in Russia.

On June 16, Putin said that the first Russian nuclear warheads had already been delivered to Belarus and the entire batch would be deployed by the end of the year. On June 23, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that a significant part of the warheads planned to be delivered had already arrived in the republic.