MINSK, December 9. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Minsk has full mutual understanding and support from Russia on the issue of deploying nuclear weapons in the republic.
"Therefore (due to the intensification of the West’s aggressive rhetoric towards Belarus - TASS) the question of returning nuclear weapons to us was raised, which we did. We also discussed putting on alert Russia’s state-of-the-art systems. We have full mutual understanding and support from Russia. Therefore, we will work together to defend our country," the BelTA news agency quoted the Belarusian leader as saying. The Belarusian head of state noted that great attention is being paid to military security and national defense. This is particularly relevant given the global situation and the militarization of the West. "We cannot ignore this very mobilization and militarization," Lukashenko said. "These countries are not spending vast amounts of money on, as they say, countering Russia and Belarus for no reason. We do not intend to attack anyone. We have enough of everything."
In this regard, the head of state stated the need to update Belarus' defense measures. "We need to update our defense measures so that everyone sees we are ready to defend every patch of our land," the president emphasized.
The Belarusian leader announced earlier that Russia’s Oreshnik missile system, which will enter combat duty in Belarus in December, will be moving throughout the republic. "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.
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.