Putin and Lukashenko monitor joint Russia-Belarus nuclear exercises

Moscow and Minsk hold strategic nuclear drills with the two countries’ leaders participating via video conference.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko have taken part via video conference in a joint nuclear forces exercise.While senior military officials, including defence ministers from both countries, have conducted similar exercises on a quarterly basis, Thursday was the first time the two presidents had directly participated in such a training event, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Does Ukraine have the advantage at the moment?list 2 of 3More than 15,800 people killed in Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine: UNlist 3 of 3Putin meets Xi: Why Russia and China need each otherend of listOpening the meeting held via videolink and broadcast live on the Kremlin’s website, 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 Russia-and-Belarus" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="131673" data-entity-type="organization">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.