Putin and Lukashenko monitor joint Russia-Belarus nuclear exercises

Moscow and Minsk conduct strategic nuclear drills with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko participating via video conference. The exercise marks the first direct presidential participation in such training, while senior military officials and defense ministers have conducted similar drills quarterly. Putin states that nuclear weapons use is an extreme and exceptional measure for national security and that the armies of Russia and Belarus are undergoing joint training for managing strategic and tactical nuclear forces. He says the Russian-Belarusian nuclear triad must remain a reliable guarantor of sovereignty amid rising global tensions. The drills aim to practice coordination and interaction in the event of nuclear weapons use, including weapons deployed on Belarusian territory. Lukashenko frames the drills as regular coordination and defensive, asserting readiness to defend the common fatherland and emphasizing that countries with such capabilities must know how to use them.

"Putin stressed that the use of nuclear weapons remains an extreme and exceptional measure for ensuring the national security of the two countries. Today, as part of the exercises, we are conducting the first joint training of the armies of Russia and Belarus on managing strategic and tactical nuclear forces, he said. At the same time, the Russian leader said the Russian-Belarusian nuclear triad which are nuclear weapons capable of being deployed by land, sea and air must continue to serve as a reliable guarantor of the sovereignty of the Union State of Russia and Belarus amid rising global tensions and emerging threats."

"According to Putin, the drills are aimed at practising coordination and interaction between military officials in the event of nuclear weapons use, including weapons deployed on the territory of Belarus. Lukashenko said the joint drills are part of regular military coordination between the two countries. We absolutely threaten no one. But we have such weapons, and we are ready in every possible way to defend our common fatherland from Brest to Vladivostok, he said."

"The Belarusian leader stressed that the exercises were defensive in nature and represented the only demonstration from our side, adding that countries possessing such capabilities must know how to use them. Russia's Ministry of Defence said in a stat"

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