MOSCOW (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian leader said Friday that the country’s fighter jets were swapped for nuclear weapons in accordance with an agreement with Russia’s ally.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the update followed his June meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proposed building nuclear-capable Belarusian fighter jets at Russian factories and exercise pilots.
“Do you think this is all just blah blah?” Lukashenko told reporters on Friday. “Everything is done. “
Russia has used the territory of Belarus as a staging ground to send troops to Ukraine, and Moscow and Minsk have maintained ties with the army.
Lukashenko, who has been president since 1994, warned the United States and its allies to oppose a “provocation” against Belarus. He said “targets have been selected” for retaliation, if attention is paid to their caution.
He did specify how many Belarusian fighter jets won the upgrade to make them capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Kremlin did not immediately comment on Lukashenko’s statement.
Earlier this year, Lukashenko said his country could harbor Russian nuclear weapons if the United States and its allies deployed nuclear weapons in NATO members Poland and Lithuania, which border Belarus.
Lukashenko ruled Belarus with an iron fist for 28 years while relying on Russia’s political and economic support. In 2020, Moscow helped him to the largest and greatest sustained wave of mass protests in the country’s history, which followed a presidential election that the opposition and the West denounced as rigged.
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