Belarus has started to receive tactical nuclear weapons from Russia, its leader has said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russian state TV that his country has begun receiving some of the weapons and that there would be "no hesitation" to use them.
Some of which, he said, were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Those bombs burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings and caused an estimated 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945.
"We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia," Lukashenko said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 Russian state TV channel which was posted on the Belarusian Belta state news agency's Telegram channel.
His comments contradicted earlier statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said Russian nuclear weapons would be deployed to Belarus next month and emphasized that they would remain under Moscow's exclusive control.
Earlier this year, Putin announced the planned deployment of short-range nuclear weapons to Moscow's ally in a move widely seen as a warning to the West as it stepped up military support for Ukraine.
Lukashenko said Tuesday that "everything is ready" for the Russian nuclear weapons’ deployment, adding that "it could take just a few days for us to get what we had asked for and even a bit more."
Asked later by a Russian state TV host whether Belarus had already received some of the weapons, Lukashenko responded coyly by saying: "Not all of them, little by little."
He continued: "God forbid I have to make a decision to use those weapons today, but there would be no hesitation if we face aggression."
Speaking later Tuesday in remarks broadcast by Russian state TV, he clarified that he would consult with Putin before using any of the weapons.
"Listen, if a war starts, do you think I will look around?" he said. "I pick up the phone, and wherever he is, he picks it up", Lukashenko said in a reference to Putin.
"If he calls, I pick it up any time. It's no problem at all to coordinate launching a strike."
Russian officials had no immediate comment on Lukashenko's remarks.
Lukashenko said the move was necessary to deter potential aggression from any other countries and he believes "no one" would be willing to fight a country with "those weapons."
"Am I going to fight America? No", he said.
He added, however, that Belarus was readying facilities for intercontinental nuclear-tipped missiles as well, just in case.
Russia didn’t say how many of its tactical nuclear weapons would be sent to Belarus.
The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.
