RT-Engels: 29-10-2025,
Moscow has agreed to the nuclear-capable missile’s deployment in Belarus to bolster joint deterrence of NATO
Belarus plans to have Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik medium-range missile system fully ready to operate on its territory by December, presidential spokeswoman Natalia Eismont announced on Tuesday.
Eismont confirmed the timeline to the media following President Alexander Lukashenko’s meeting with senior military officials in Minsk earlier in the day. She emphasized that the deployment is proceeding as planned and dismissed speculation that the joint initiative could be delayed or canceled.
Lukashenko previously said the only scenario that could alter Minsk’s plans would be if European NATO members agreed to refrain from hosting similar nuclear-capable weapons.
“Several European nations have already declared their intentions to deploy medium-range missile systems. Why should we be blamed [for responding in kind]?” the Belarusian leader said during a recent security conference.
The Oreshnik system is part of Moscow’s new generation of deterrence weapons developed in response to the US-initiated collapse of Cold War-era arms control agreements. Its production followed the US withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty under then President Donald Trump, an agreement prohibiting both nations from making such weapons.
A conventional version of the Oreshnik was first tested last November, striking an arms plant in Ukraine, with the Defense Ministry saying it picked the target in retaliation for Kiev’s use of long-range weapons provided by the US and the UK for strikes on Russian territory.