Russia May Put Strategic Nukes in Belarus: Lukashenko

Russian strategic nuclear weapons might be deployed in Belarus along with part of Russia’s tactical nuclear arsenal, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last week that his country intended to deploy tactical, comparatively short-range and small-yield nuclear weapons in Belarus.

“Putin and I will decide and introduce here, if necessary, strategic weapons, and they must understand this, the scoundrels abroad, who today are trying to blow us up from inside and outside,” the Belarusian leader said in his annual address amid escalating tensions over the conflict in Ukraine.

“We will stop at nothing to protect our countries, our state and their peoples,” he stated.

 The Belarusian president said that in the 1990s he had given orders to preserve most of the facilities where strategic missiles were deployed, as nuclear weapons were being moved from Belarus to Russia.

"I have preserved these sites," Lukashenko said.