Belarus has started to receive Russian tactical nuclear weapons and has facilities to host longer-range missiles if needed, according to its President.
President Alexander Lukashenko told Russian state TV Belarus has received delivery of the weapons, including some he said are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
"We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia," Lukashenko said in an interview.
President Lukashenko said he would use them if faced with aggression, contradicting President Vladimir Putin's earlier emphasis that Russia would retain control of their use.
Special storage facilities to house the tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus were made ready on July 7-8.
The deployment will be Moscow's first move of such warheads – shorter-range less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield – outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The step is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Lukashenko is also quoted as saying the weapons would be physically deployed in Belarus "in several days".
As the war continues, Belarus and Russia have deepened ties and Lukashenko has allowed his country to be used by Russian forces attacking Ukraine as part of what Moscow calls its "special military operation".
Belarus's three western neighbours are all part of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance, which is helping Ukraine to defend itself against Russia with weapons and intelligence but says it will not put NATO boots on the ground.
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