MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Russia is not going to station its nuclear arms in other countries with the exception of Belarus, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who serves as Moscow’s BRICS "sherpa," said.

"No, it does not have such plans," he said at a press conference following the first meeting of the BRICS sherpas and sous-sherpas under Russia’s chairmanship, in reply to a question as to whether Russia was planning on deploying its nuclear weapons in any country other than Belarus.

The senior diplomat noted that Russia is exercising the utmost responsibility with regard to deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil has been carried out within the framework of countering the increasingly aggressive and threatening activity of NATO, led by the US, of countering the alliance’s policy course on strategically defeating Russia, the expansion of NATO’s joint nuclear missions and many other things. Our joint decision, made together with Minsk, to station tactical nuclear arms in Belarus was triggered by the policy course of the collective West. The difference between us and NATO is huge, we are exercising maximum responsibility," he stressed.

Ryabkov explained that Moscow and Minsk are taking these steps within the framework of the Union State, which has a shared security space. That said, NATO’s joint nuclear missions are held in those countries that "proclaimed themselves non-nuclear under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)." "Now the Western group and their ringleaders, such as the US, above all, want to shift this practice to the Asia-Pacific Region," he added.

On March 25, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia, at Minsk’s request, would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil, precisely the way the US has deployed elements of its own nuclear arsenal on the territory of its allies. Moscow has already transferred the nuclear-capable Iskander system to Minsk and helped its Belarusian colleagues to re-equip their aircraft accordingly. Belarusian missile troops and pilots underwent relevant training in Russia. On June 16, 2023, 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 of last year, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that a significant part of the warheads planned to be delivered had already arrived in the republic.