Putin, Lukashenko hold talks on defense, economic ties

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart are holding talks on expanding their economic cooperation and bolstering defense ties that include a plan to deploy Russia’ nuclear weapons to its neighbor and ally amid the fighting in Ukraine. Thursday’s Kremlin talks involving senior officials from both countries and follow an one-on-one meeting of the two leaders the previous day. Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground for invading Ukraine and has maintained a contingent of troops and weapons there. Last month, Putin declared that Moscow planned to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The announcement marked another attempt by the Russian leader to dangle the nuclear threat to discourage the West from supporting Ukraine.