MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. Ukraine does not see any risks for itself related to the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, Kirill Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), said.
"For Ukraine, there is a zero risk of nuclear arms being used from Belarusian soil. I think so, because the nuclear weapons there are not weapons but the way of strategic nuclear containment," he told the 1+1 TV channel.
On March 25, 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, 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.