Putin Announces Start Date for Deployment of Russian Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi that the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus will begin on July 7-8, immediately after the completion of preparations for the relevant facilities, according to kommersant.ru.

"As you know, the preparation of the respective facilities will be completed on July 7-8, and we will immediately begin the activities related to the deployment of the relevant types of weapons in your territory," Putin said.

Putin also noted that he and Lukashenko must discuss issues regarding the economic cooperation between the two countries. On March 25, the Russian president announced that, at Lukashenko's request, tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed in Belarus. Subsequently, Putin stated that the construction of storage facilities for tactical weapons should be completed by July 1.

Russia's ambassador to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, clarified that nuclear weapons would be transferred to the western borders of the Union State.