Will host Russian nuclear arms due to Western pressure, says Belarus

Minsk: European nation and Russian ally Belarus on Tuesday said it is forced to host Moscow's nuclear weapons due to "unprecedented" political and economic Western pressure.

The foreign ministry also said the deployment did not violate international agreements because Minsk will have no control over the weapons or their deployment. "It in no way contradicts the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons." Belarus also claimed that the country is forced to "respond to strengthen its own security and defence capability," reported AFP.

The West has issued multiple rounds of sanctions on Minsk over allying with Russia and authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on political dissent.

The statement comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The ally has allowed Moscow to use its territory as a launchpad for the offensive against Ukraine. Military exercises and cooperation between the armies have also been going on since then.

Since Russia attacked Ukraine last year, the fear of nuclear attack has been a major question. Experts think that any nuclear strike by Moscow would likely involve "tactical" small-sized battlefield weapons as opposed to "strategic" high-powered long-range nuclear weapons.