Russian nuclear arms deployment in Belarus not limited in time - MFA

The agreement on the deployment of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus does not imply a time frame.

The head of the second department of the CIS countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexey Polishchuk, made the remarks in an interview with TASS.

"As for the possible time frame for the presence of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, the Russian-Belarusian agreements do not imply any restrictions on this matter," he said.

"In the current geopolitical situation, the main conditions for the hypothetical return of tactical nuclear weapons to Russia could be the US and NATO's refusal to undermine the security and sovereignty of Russia and Belarus," he added.

"Of course, such a step of ours should be preceded by the complete withdrawal of all American nuclear weapons to US territory with the elimination of the corresponding infrastructure in Europe," Polishchuk said.

"This took into account the many years of destructive practice of "joint nuclear missions" of NATO countries. The Westerners’ open support for the Kyiv regime and the unwillingness to take into account the legitimate demands of our country in the field of security was the trigger for such a reciprocal step by Moscow and Minsk," the diplomat said.

He emphasized that the actions of Russia "do not contradict its international legal obligations, including those under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, since control over nuclear weapons remains with Russia."

"Unlike American warheads in European countries, our special ammunition will be located in close proximity to Russia, on the territory of the Union State, within which a single defence space has been formed," the diplomat said.

On March 25, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would place its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus at Minsk’s own request, precisely the way the US has long been doing on the territory of its allies. According to the Russian head of state, the construction of a storage facility for the tactical nuclear warheads in Belarus is scheduled to be completed on July 1.

Moscow has already handed over to Minsk the nuclear-capable Iskander missile system and provided assistance in re-equipping Belarusian aircraft to enable them to carry and launch nuclear munitions. On June 9, Putin said during a meeting with Lukashenko that deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus will begin immediately after the storage facilities that are to house them are completed on July 7-8.