MINSK, February 20. /TASS/. Belarus has everything necessary to ensure its defense and inflict ‘unacceptable damage’ on any potential enemy, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"We have everything necessary to ensure our defense and, as military professionals say, to inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy," the BelTA news agency quoted him as saying.

He recalled that Russian tactical nuclear weapons are deployed on Belarusian soil. "Today it is the most important element for the deterrence of any adversary," Lukashenko pointed out at a meeting with senior national security officials.

The president pointed out that Belarus is continuing to strengthen its military-technical potential by providing its troops with new equipment. In particular, he mentioned the arrival of modernized Polonez-M missile systems with a range of up to 300 km, two divisions of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, and two divisions of Iskander-M missile systems.

"The Defense Ministry's task for the coming year is to qualitatively transform the army and improve the country's defense system. We must prioritize combat training of military units and subdivisions. Especially since 2024 is the year of field training of the armed forces," Lukashenko emphasized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 25, 2023, that Moscow would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus at Minsk's request, similar to what the US has long done on the territory of its allies. Moscow has provided Minsk with the Iskander missile system, which can carry nuclear weapons, and has helped upgrade Belarusian aircraft to carry special munitions. Belarusian missile engineers and pilots have received training in Russia. On June 16, 2023, Putin said that the first Russian nuclear warheads had been delivered to Belarus, with the entire batch to arrive by the end of 2023. Lukashenko said on June 23, 2023, that a significant part of the ammunition scheduled for delivery was already in the country.