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Lukashenko said he had agreed the move to modernise Belarusian
warplanes with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Belta news
agency reported.
Belarus, a staunch Russian ally, does not have its own nuclear
weapons. Lukashenko did not go into details about how a weapons
transfer from Moscow, which is using Belarusian territory to
mount what it calls its "special military operation" against
Ukraine, might take place.
Belta cited Lukashenko as talking about a potential future
threat from neighbouring Poland, a NATO member, while saying he
was confident that the Polish military, unlike Warsaw's
politicians, understood how Minsk could respond to what he
called any escalation.
His overall remarks appeared to be referring to a potential
threat from the West in general.
"They (the West) must understand that if they opt for escalation
no helicopters or planes will save them," Lukashenko was quoted
as saying.
"Everything was ready," he said, referring to the work to modify
Belarusian warplanes to carry nuclear weapons.
"It's not a good idea to escalate things with Belarus because
that would be an escalation with the Union State (of Russia and
Belarus) which has nuclear weapons. If they start to create
problems ... the response will be immediate."
(Reporting by ReutersEditing by Gareth Jones)
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