Russia intends to supply nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile systems to Belarus in the coming months, president Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, Deutsche Welle reports.
"In the coming months, we will transfer to Belarus Iskander-M tactical missile systems, which can use ballistic or cruise missiles, in their conventional and nuclear versions," Putin said on Russian television during a meeting with self-proclaimed President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in St. Petersburg.
Details and logistics of the weapons transfer would be discussed by the defense ministers of the two countries, Putin said.
Putin also said Russia would help Belarus upgrade its fleet of Su-25 fighter jets to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
"This modernization should be carried out in aircraft factories in Russia and the training of personnel should start in accordance with this," he added after Lukashenko asked him to "adapt" the planes.
Belarus has been a key player in the Russian war against Ukraine. The country served as a staging ground for Russian troops to invade on February 24.
Ukraine said Saturday that Russian troops had fired dozens of missiles at the Ukrainian cities of Zhytomyr and Chernihiv from Belarus.
