Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said that the possibility of a direct military clash with NATO was “obvious” and that nuclear weapons were a key deterrent against the Western threat. Khrenin made the remarks at the Moscow Conference on International Security, where he signed a deal with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to formalize the deployment of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory.
Khrenin accused the European Union of pursuing a hostile policy of dividing the Slavic nations and brainwashing their citizens through the media. He also claimed that the NATO summit in Vilnius in July testified to the fact that the European power elites were focused on a global war against the East.
Khrenin’s statement came amid rising tensions between Belarus and its Western neighbors, especially Poland, which has been backing the Belarusian opposition and supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. Belarus, which is Russia’s ally, has been accused of orchestrating a migrant crisis on the border with Poland and other EU countries as a form of hybrid warfare.