According to Sergei Shoigu, the minister of defense for Russia, some jets from Belarus can currently transport nuclear bombs.
The action is thought to be a reaction to Finland’s anticipated NATO membership, which is expected to be confirmed later today.
On a conference call at the military department, Shoigu stated that “some of the Belarusian ground attack planes have achieved the capability to strike against enemy targets with nuclear-armed weapons.”
He also confirmed that a number of Iskander rocket systems had been transferred to Belarus, which could be used to carry conventional or nuclear missiles.
Meanwhile, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Finland’s accession to Nato later on Tuesday will be a historic event and a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the Scandinavian nation and neighbouring Sweden to submit a joint application to the bloc.
‘President Putin had as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less NATO,’ he told reporters ahead of a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.
‘He is getting exactly the opposite… Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full fledged member of the alliance,’ he said.
Sweden’s application has for now become stuck, with Turkish President Erdogan accusing Stockholm of embracing Kurdish militants and allowing them to demonstrate on the streets.
Hungary is also yet to approve Sweden’s application.
Elsewhere, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin to speak of ‘unbelievable threats.’
In an address to the Belarusian people on March 31, Lukashenko claimed that Nato countries were preparing for an imminent invasion of the country.
During a press conference, he said: ‘Taking into consideration various developments going on in the world, and not the last factor here is fight against terrorism, we see that the special military operation of the Russian Federation prompted us to have a scrupulous look at law enforcement, military and security services.
‘As I often say, had this not happened, we would have had to come up with something else to spur ourselves to take action. Thus we had to get the ball rolling.
‘Yet, threats are very serious, sometimes unbelievable.’
He also claimed that in addition to nuclear support, Moscow had been working to bolster Belarus’ intelligence services.
‘All sorts of b******s come to the surface in our country and yours [Russia], and they side with foreign terrorists,’ Lukashenko told Naryshkin.
‘I cannot define them otherwise. This is not intelligence, not counterintelligence, these are our enemies,’ he added.
Russia has long threatened to bolster its defences along the Finnish border if Nato provides any military assistance its Scandinavian neighbour.
Finland shares an 832-mile land border with Russia, the largest in Europe, and its entry will more than double the size of Nato’s border with Russia.
The move is a strategic and political blow to Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about Nato’s expansion towards Russian territory.