OREANDA-NEWS Russian nuclear weapons are deployed in Belarus indefinitely, but can be curtailed if the United States and NATO change their course to undermine the sovereignty of Moscow and Minsk, Director of the second department of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Alexey Polishchuk told TASS.

"Of course, such a step should be preceded by the complete withdrawal of all American nuclear weapons to the territory of the United States with the elimination of the relevant infrastructure in Europe," the diplomat said.

Polishchuk called the West's assistance to Ukraine and unwillingness to accept Russia's conditions on the issue of security guarantees the trigger for the decision to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.

He also said that Ukraine has deployed large military units on the Belarusian border and is trying to probe the defense capability of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.