Russian President Vladimir Putin signed with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk a treaty that offers security guarantees to Moscow's closest ally, including the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons to repel aggression, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The agreement was signed after the announcement of a revised version of the Russian nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella.
Putin stressed in Belarus that the new document includes the potential use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus in response to aggression.
„I am sure that the treaty will guarantee the security of Russia and Belarus,” Putin said in a televised speech.
After the two presidents signed the security pact, Lukashenko asked Putin to deploy more advanced weapons to Belarus, including the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles that Russia used for the first time last month against Ukraine.
„I would like to publicly ask you to deploy new weapons systems in Belarus, especially the Oreshnik, said Lukashenko. “This will help cool some heads”, he added.
Putin replied that the “Oreshnik“ may be deployed in Belarus in the second half of next year. He specified that they will remain under Russian control, but Moscow will allow Belarus to choose the targets.
The Russian president called the strike on Ukraine a “Nutcracker” on November 21 in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian military facilities in the Bryansk and Kursk regions with Western-supplied weapons.
He warned that Russia could use the new missile to strike military sites of Kiev's Western allies, which allow Ukraine to use their weapons for attacks on Russian territory.
Putin welcomes the capabilities of the “Oreshnik” and said that its multiple warheads, which hit the target at 10 times the speed of sound, cannot be intercepted by any existing air defense systems.
The head of Russia's missile forces said the missile, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has a range that would allow it to reach anywhere in Europe.
The updated nuclear doctrine, which Putin approved last month, formally lowered the threshold for using Russia's nuclear weapons. Earlier, US President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to strike targets on Russian territory with longer-range US-supplied missiles.
The doctrine says Moscow can use nuclear weapons “in response to the use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction” against Russia or its allies, as well as “in case of aggression” against Russia and Belarus with conventional weapons, which threatens “their sovereignty and/or territorial integrity”.
Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly said that Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus remain under Moscow's control. The Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Alexander Volfovich said that their use would require permission from Lukashenko.