Russia Denies Transferring Control of Nuclear Weapons to Belarus

Russia has not transferred control over the Russian nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus to the republic. This was reported by the Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on statements from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko regarding the development of algorithms for the use of such weapons.

Earlier, Lukashenko had announced that Minsk would develop an algorithm for the use of nuclear weapons in the event of an attack on Belarus.

The Russian Foreign Ministry urged to take Lukashenko's statements "in their entirety," noting that he emphasized that any potential use of Russian nuclear weapons would require an appropriate decision from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"There have been no changes to the essence of previously announced agreements between Russia and Belarus in the military nuclear field," the Foreign Ministry's statement read.