MINSK, September 17. /TASS/. Belarusian specialists have enough skills to use Russian tactical weapons deployed in Belarus, if necessary, First Deputy Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council Pavel Muraveiko said on Sunday.

Commenting on the words of chief of the Ukrainian defense ministry’s main intelligence directorate, Kirill Budanov, who said that Belarusian servicemen are unable to use nuclear weapons, Muraveiko said, "If they (Minsk’s opponents - TASS) think so, I would warn them against the reckless thoughts, reckless ideas to test out whether the Belarusians can use such weapons. I can say with full responsibility that after receiving nuclear weapons from Russia, our specialists underwent a full cycle of training in Russia."

"The Belarusians have the nerve, will and readiness to use all possible means" to defend their homeland if necessary, he said in an interview with the STV television channel.

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. 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, Lukashenko said that a larger part of warheads was already in Belarus.