MINSK, March 30. /TASS/. The deployment of new NATO forces near Belarus' borders is the real threat to European security, not Belarus keeping Russia’s nuclear weapons on its territory, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"Deployment of fresh NATO’s troops near the Belarus’ border and further Alliance’s enlargement in Northern Europe are an irresponsible escalation and key factors threatening European security," reads the statement posted on the ministry’s Twitter page.

Thus, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry commented on the statement of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who asserted that the stationing of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus is an "irresponsible escalation and threat to European security." Borrell urged Minsk to reverse this decision, saying that otherwise the EU was ready to respond with new sanctions.

The training of Belarusian pilots capable of flying aircraft with specific munitions and the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus in no way contradicts international law, in particular the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry pointed out earlier.

This practice is not new in the sphere of military cooperation between a nuclear and non-nuclear state, it said, reiterating that NATO has long been using the practice of "nuclear sharing."

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 25 that, at Minsk’s request, Moscow would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, similar to what the United States has been doing for some time on the territories of its allies. Russia has already transferred the nuclear-capable Iskander missile system to Belarus. A storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons should be built by July 1, the Russian leader added.