President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.
The Russian President said that the Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country but leaders of major NATO countries are making aggressive statements about Russia.
“So, I order to move Russia’s deterrence forces to a special regime of duty,” Putin said in an address from Kremlin.
Russia had offered to hold talks with the Ukrainian officials in the Gomel city of Belarus but the talk offer was quickly turned down by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“Belarus is staging ground for the Russian invasion. Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku can be the alternative venues for holding talks,” Zelenskiy in a video message said.
Ukraine also accused Belarus of being complicit in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The US and her western allies have imposed sanctions on Belarus for taking the side of Russia.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko called on Kyiv to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood.
