Belarusian defense minister says possibility of direct military clash with NATO 'obvious'

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin on Tuesday called "obvious" the possibility of a direct military clash with NATO in the future.

Speaking at the Moscow Conference on International Security, Khrenin said the West has recently been actively investing in arms production, noting that "in the capitalist world" no one spends money if they do not expect profit.

"Therefore, the conclusion can be unambiguous: the possibility of a direct military clash with NATO in the future becomes very obvious," he stressed.

The minister said the only thing that restrains the Western powers from unleashing a large-scale war is the threat of a nuclear response to their actions.

"It is no coincidence that the Republic of Belarus considers the return of tactical nuclear weapons to its territory as an effective factor of strategic deterrence," he said.

In late May, Russia and Belarusian defense ministers signed an agreement on the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the move was in response to growing security risks, stressing that Moscow followed the U.S., which deployed its tactical nuclear arms in European countries.

Belarus is an ally of Russia, which launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022. The West has unprecedentedly supported Kyiv by providing economic, military as well as humanitarian assistance, but has refrained from entering the conflict directly.