MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. Russia’s nuclear umbrella also covers Belarus and can be used in the same framework scenarios as Russia would for defense purposes, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said in an interview with TASS.
"In line with the political decision that we made, taking into account Belarus’ requests, Russia’s nuclear umbrella now extends to our closest ally and applies under the same framework scenarios that allow a nuclear response for Russia’s own defense," he explained.
This implies "defending against an attack using weapons of mass destruction or an aggression with conventional weapons that poses a critical threat to sovereignty or territorial integrity," Shoigu specified.
Following a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State on December 6, Minsk and Moscow approved a joint security concept and signed an interstate agreement on security guarantees within their Union.
"I’d like to note that the concept involves eliminating conditions for the emergence of wars and military conflicts, and mitigating risks of using nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction," the senior Russian security official concluded.