Belarusian Foreign Ministry claims that nuclear weapon deployment on its territory complies with international law

This is said in the ministry’s statement.

The NATO member countries neighboring Belarus are increasing their military potential in the immediate vicinity of the Belarusian borders, the ministry said. Belarus itself suffers from imposed sanctions and gross interference in its internal affairs by the West. That is why, according to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, the placement of nuclear warheads of the Russian Federation is completely legitimate.

"The training of Belarusian pilots capable of flying aircraft with specific ammunition, the modernization of such aircraft, as well as the placement of nuclear warheads on the territory of Belarus without transferring control over them to Minsk, as well as access to the relevant technologies, do not in any way contradict the provisions of Articles I and II of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," the message reads.

The ministry indicated that "appropriate actions will be taken to strengthen its own security and defense capabilities. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that such cooperation between nuclear and non-nuclear states is not an innovation, recalling NATO's practice of "joint nuclear missions."

"More than 150 units of US tactical nuclear weapons are stored on the territory of European NATO member states, more than 250 aircraft have been prepared for their possible use," the ministry noted.

• Vladimir Putin said that a storage facility for Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be completed in Belarus by July 1. He claimed that Russia has already handed over the Iskander complex to Belarus, which can be a carrier of nuclear weapons.

• The UN Security Council will discuss Russia's threats to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus - the meeting will take place this week.