Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart on Thursday discussed expanding the economic cooperation and bolstering the defence ties between their nations, which include a plan to deploy Russia' nuclear weapons to Belarus amid the fighting in neighbouring Ukraine.
The Kremlin talks involved senior officials from both countries and followed Putin's one-on-one meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday.
Last month, Putin declared that Moscow planned to put some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, an announcement that marked another attempt by the Russian leader to dangle the nuclear threat to discourage the West from supporting Ukraine. The deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus would put them closer to potential targets in Ukraine and NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe. Belarus shares a 1,250-kilometer border with NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
In opening remarks at Thursday's talks, Lukashenko warned that "if necessary, we will use all we have to protect our countries and peoples."Lukashenko mentioned the arrest of a man accused of launching a recent drone attack that damaged a Russian early warning and control aircraft based in Belarus. Belarusian security agencies are working to uncover caches containing weapons and explosives, he added.
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