Belarus says NATO actions forced it to agree to house Russian nuclear weapons

Belarus' foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it had been forced to house Russian nuclear weapons on its territory by the aggressive actions of NATO countries that were threatening Belarus' own security, the Russian TASS news agency reported.

Minsk also said the plans - announced over the weekend by Russian President Vladimir Putin - to station Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus would not contravene international non-proliferation agreements as Belarus would not have control over the weapons.