MINSK -- Belarus's authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, says his country's Su-24 military planes have been re-fitted to enable them to carry nuclear weapons.
Lukashenka, who has allied himself with the Kremlin in Russia's war against Ukraine, said on August 26 that he had agreed to the move with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"[The West] must understand that neither helicopters nor planes will save them if they go for escalation. We, along with Putin, said once in St. Petersburg that we will adapt the Belarusian Su [-24] planes as well to make them capable to carry nuclear arms. Do you think we were just yakking? Everything is ready!" Lukashenka told reporters in Minsk.
He did not present any evidence to back up his claim. Belarus does not have its own nuclear weapons, and it supposedly decommissioned its fleet of Su-24 jets a decade ago, though it is possible the aircraft could be overhauled and put back into service.
Putin and Lukashenka met in St. Peterburg on June 25, and the Russian leader said at the meeting that Moscow would supply Belarus with Iskander-M missile systems, adding that delivery would take place within a few months.
The Iskander-M is a mobile guided-missile system with a range of up to 500 kilometers.
Lukashenka's statement comes as Moscow-launched invasion of Ukraine entered the seventh month.
Belarus is not a direct participant in the war in Ukraine, but it has provided logistical support to Moscow's invasion that began on February 24 by allowing Russian forces to enter Ukraine via the Belarus border.
Western nations have slapped Belarus, like Russia, with an ever-increasing list of harsh financial sanctions in response to the Kremlin's war on Ukraine and for Belarus's efforts to aid the Russian invasion.