Belarus' air force becomes nuclear-capable, says president

MOSCOW

Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko announced on Friday that the country's military planes had been re-equipped to carry nuclear weapons.

"They should understand that no helicopters, planes, if they escalate, will save them," Lukashenko told reporters in the capital Minsk, noting that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin in June to help upgrade the Belarusian Air Force to respond to flights of nuclear-capable NATO aircraft near his country's border.

"Putin and I once said in Saint Petersburg that we would re-equip Belarusian Su aircraft so that they could carry nuclear weapons. What do you think, that those were empty words? Everything is ready," he said.

In June, Lukashenko had complained about the training flights of NATO's nuclear-capable aircraft near Belarusian borders, asking Putin for help "to respond adequately."

Putin agreed, noting that the Belarusian military possessed a large number of Su-25 fighter jets that could be equipped as needed, with their pilots to receive training on the planes' new capabilities.