Belarusian officials said a Russian proposal to deploy nuclear weapons in their country would not violate international agreements such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

According to the official Russian TASS news agency, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said its military personnel work closely with Russian troops but are always within strict compliance with international law.

Military activity, such as training Belarusian pilots to transport nuclear munitions or deploying weapons to Belarus while keeping control in Moscow, doesn’t contradict any articles of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, officials in Minsk told TASS.

Such practices are “not an innovation in the field of military cooperation between non-nuclear and nuclear powers,” TASS said.

NATO has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to position tactical nuclear weapons inside Belarus. A top Ukrainian official said the move will likely stoke internal destabilization and a “public rejection of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society.”

“The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage,” tweeted Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.