Belarus’, Russia’s defense ministers agree on terms of storage of Russian nukes in Belarus

May 25, BPN. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu have signed documents in Minsk regulating the operation of storage facility for Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The Su-25 aircraft were upgraded to carry nuclear weapons while Belarusian servicemen received practical skills in their operation after completing training in Russia, Chrenin said.

The official linked Russian nuclear plans in Belarus to “ceaseless belligerent rhetoric supported by practical actions” against Belarus and Russia by the Western countries. He claimed that the West is allegedly violating the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 that provided security assurances for giving up nuclear weapons.

“This will be an effective response to the aggressive policy of unfriendly countries, and we hope it will make their leaders consider the inadmissibility of further escalation in the region,” the defense ministry’s press office quoted Chrenin as saying.

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons would be completed in Belarus by July 1.