(MENAFN) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated on Tuesday that his nation and Russia are rehearsing the launch of nuclear armaments as part of their joint military exercises.

Addressing an awards ceremony in Minsk, Lukashenko emphasized that “everything” is being practiced during the Zapad 2025 maneuvers, which commenced on Friday and will conclude on Tuesday.

“Starting from shooting from regular small arms to nuclear warheads. Again, we must be able to do all of this. Otherwise, why is it on the territory of Belarus?” Lukashenko was cited as saying by a state news agency.

He refuted claims that the drills present a threat and noted that Western nations are aware of the exercises.

Lukashenko further stressed that Belarus has the capacity to counter “any aggressor.”

“We are not trying to conquer anyone, because we will not be able to conquer. We understand this perfectly well. There are strong states around us, what can we say? But we are always ready to inflict unacceptable damage if someone sets foot on our land,” he stated.

Chief of the General Staff Pavel Muraveiko mentioned that the joint exercises included practice for the potential use of non-strategic nuclear weapons and the deployment of the Oreshnik missile system, according to the Belarusian Defense Ministry.

The Oreshnik, an intermediate-range ballistic missile produced in Russia, was first deployed in November 2024, when Moscow reported it had targeted a facility in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in retaliation for Kyiv’s use of Western-supplied long-range armaments on Russian territory.

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