'Pressure from the US...': Belarus justifies decision to host Russian tactical nuclear weapons

Belarus said on Tuesday (March 28) that it was forced to host Russian nuclear weapons after the "unprecedented" pressure from the NATO nations and the West. The staunch Russian ally further insisted that their deployment did not violate international agreements. Belarus accusedthe United States and its allies of putting pressure with the aim of changing its political and geopolitical direction.

Putin recently talked about tactical nuclear weapons in a televised interview, saying that Russia would deploy the weapons "without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation". Putin had mentioned that he spoke to his Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko and that they had "agreed to do the same".

As quoted by news agencies, the Belarusian foreign ministry in Minsk said it"is forced to respond to strengthen its own security and defence capability."

It said, "Over the last two and a half years, the Republic of Belarus has been subjected to unprecedented political, economic and information pressure from the United States, the United Kingdom and its NATO allies, as well as the member states of the European Union."

"In view of these circumstances, and the legitimate concerns and risks in the sphere of national security arising from them, Belarus is forced to respond by strengthening its own security and defence capabilities," it further added.

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Recently, a training exercise took place involving an air defence unit armed with Russian-supplied Tor M2K missile launchers. Belarus's defence ministry released a video showing details.

According to Belarusian and Russian defence and industry sources, the system is capable of bringing down a variety of enemy targets, including cruise missiles, glided bombs, drones and aircraft.

Meanwhile, Poland's prime minister said on Tuesday that Belarus will certainly face further European sanctions due to a Russian plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in the country. His remarks came as tensions between Warsaw and Minsk hit new highs.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference in Bucharest: "This step taken by Russia... the announcement of the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus, will certainly lead to the announcement of additional sanctions, the level of sanctions will be much more severe for the Lukashenko regime."

(With inputs from agencies)

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