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Russia and Belarus staged nuclear drills on Monday amid a standoff with NATO and an impasse with Washington over nuclear arms control, authorities said.
Belarus’ Defense Ministry said the exercise would include training related to the delivery of nuclear munitions and preparation for their use in cooperation with Russia.
“During the exercise, it is planned to practise issues related to the delivery of nuclear munitions and preparation of their use in cooperation with the Russian side,” the ministry said.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said the scheduled training was not directed against other countries.
The drills “are not directed against third countries and do not pose a threat to security in the region,” the ministry said in a statement on social media.
Aviation and missile forces will take part in the exercise, the ministry added.
Russia deployed Oreshnik, its latest hypersonic, nuclear-capable missile, to Belarus last year, raising the stakes in Moscow’s rivalry with NATO.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered troops to reinforce Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus.
Zelenskyy said Moscow was preparing a new offensive from Belarus, which Russia used as a staging ground for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
He also said Russia wanted to pull Belarus deeper into the war.
Belarus, a landlocked Eastern European country ruled for more than 30 years by President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, depends heavily on Moscow economically and militarily.
Putin has repeatedly invoked nuclear rhetoric as the West stepped up military support for Ukraine during the war, which has lasted more than four years.
Moscow last week tested its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat.
The test came months after the last treaty limiting Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals expired.
The New START agreement ended in February, formally releasing the world’s two largest nuclear powers from a range of restrictions.
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