Putin says Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russian dictator Putin has signed an agreement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Sky News reports, citing the Russian news agency TASS.

Ten aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons have reportedly already been deployed there.

"We have agreed with Lukashenko that we will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the non-proliferation regime," Putin said.

Putin said this would not violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, as the United States already has such weapons in Europe.

He added that Moscow will complete construction of a special missile storage facility by July.

"We have already helped the Belarusians: we have refitted aircraft, 10 types of aircraft are ready to use tactical weapons, we have handed over Iskander, we are starting to train crews on April 3, and we are starting to build a nuclear weapons storage facility. We are not transferring our tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, but we will deploy them and train the military, just like the United States does in Europe," the Russian dictator said. He added that Russia has already handed over the Iskander system, which can be a nuclear weapons carrier, to Minsk.

According to Putin, Lukashenko has long been raising the issue of deploying Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The reason for the talks with Minsk was the UK's announcement that it would transfer depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, as this is somehow related to nuclear technology.