MINSK, October 31. /TASS/. Minsk has exchanged nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus, bringing the most advanced ones from Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Just so you know, we have once again exchanged our nuclear weapons. We sent them to Russia and brought back the most advanced ones. They were put in order. Maintaining these weapons is expensive, and the Russians help us with that. So we returned these weapons. We train using them, both from aircraft and missile weapons. And we make no secret of it," the BelTA news agency quoted him as saying.

Lukashenko stressed that the decision to deploy nuclear weapons and Russia’s Oreshnik missile system in Belarus had been made for security reasons. "What else can I do? Should I sit and wait for them to come here, rape our women and kill our children, like they did back in 1941? I don’t want it to happen," the Belarusian leader stressed.

Lukashenko added that Belarus’ western neighbors "are purchasing weapons from all over the world for some reason."

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 25, 2023, that Moscow would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus based on a request from Minsk, similar to the way the US had its nuclear weapons deployed to the territory of allied countries. On April 25, 2024, the Belarusian president said that several dozen nuclear warheads had been delivered to the country.

Under the agreement on security guarantees within the Union State of Russia and Belarus, which took effect on March 13, 2025, the two countries see Russian nuclear weapons as an important factor in preventing nuclear and military conflicts involving conventional arms, as well as a means of deterrence that can only be used as a measure of last resort.