SpaceWar.com reports: “Belarus said on Tuesday it was forced to host Russian nuclear weapons due to ‘unprecedented’ Western pressure, insisting their deployment did not violate international agreements.

At the weekend Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in the Moscow-allied country, drawing condemnation from the West.

‘Belarus is forced to respond to strengthen its own security and defence capability,’ the foreign ministry in Minsk said.

It said Minsk had been subjected to ‘unprecedented’ political and economic pressure from the United States and its allies.

Belarus said it would not have control over the weapons and their deployment ‘in no way contradicts’ the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Minsk allowed Russia to use its territory as a launchpad for Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine last year…”