The Russian president believes that there is no need for reciprocal response to the alliance's training flights.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday that he doesn't support the latter's suggestion of offering a mirror response to NATO aircraft training flights.
Lukashenko spoke about the US and NATO aircraft that are training to carry nuclear warheads and nuclear charges during their meeting in St. Petersburg. He asked his Russian colleague to think mirroring the answer to these things, or at least to help Minsk upgrade its planes.
Putin said that while there was no need for reciprocity, Russia and Belarus have to take measures to ensure their own security, as well as, probably, that of other members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. In this context, Putin suggested the modernization of a large group of Belarus SU-25 aircraft in Russia and the training of flight personnel. He also pledged that Russia will send its ally Iskander-M tactical missile systems that can use both ballistic and cruise missiles in both usual and nuclear versions within the next few months. Both proposals were welcomed by Lukashenko.
Putin also updated his counterpart on NATO's capabilities during the meeting. He claimed that Americans have 200 nuclear munitions in six European member countries of the North Atlantic bloc, with 257 aircraft prepared for their possible use.
The meeting came on the day when Ukrainian intelligence accused Moscow of trying to drag Belarus into military action against Kiev. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry Chief Intelligence said early on Saturday morning that Chernigov, Kiev and Sumy regions were hit with a massive missile shelling by rockets fired from the city of Petrikov, Belarus, about 50 to 60 km from the Ukrainian border.
On Friday, Russian sabotage groups arrived in the city of Mozyr in Belarus with the intention of blowing up local residential buildings, schools and hospitals, in order to blame Ukraine for it.
Putin and Lukashenko did not make a statement on these allegations.