Russia President, Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to put its nuclear forces on special alert, the highest level of alert for Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces.
Speaking to top military officials, including Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, he said Western nations had taken “unfriendly actions” towards Russia and imposed “illegitimate sanctions”.
But the U.S. has condemned Putin’s order putting Russia’s nuclear forces on a special state of alert.
The move makes it easier to launch weapons but BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said it was a way for Russia to send a warning to NATO, rather than signaling an intent to use them.
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The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called the move unacceptable in an interview with CBS News.
“It means that Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable and we have to continue to stem his actions in the strongest possible way,” she said.
White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki has said Russia has never been under threat from NATO.
Putin blamed NATO leaders for allowing “aggressive statements” to be made against Russia. But Psaki said it was a familiar response from Russia’s president.
“We’ve seen him do this time and time again. At no point has Russia been under threat from Nato, has Russia been under threat from Ukraine,” she told ABC News.
“This is all a pattern from Putin and we’re going to stand up to it.”
“We have the ability to defend ourselves, but we also need to call out what we’re seeing here from President Putin,” she added.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky has released a statement following his conversation with Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko.
“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.
“Lukashenko has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation’s travel, talks and return,” it read.
Zelensky had earlier said he would not meet a Russian delegation on Belarusian territory because Russia’s invasion was launched in part from Belarus.
Neither Russia nor Belarus has issued any statements about potential talks.
Also, 100,000 people are taking part in a protest against the Russian invasion in Berlin, German police says as Germany announces a huge increase in defence spending.
Demonstrators have filled a large area between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column / Siegessäule and more people are arriving all the time. They say the crowd could end up reaching Alexanderplatz, three kilometres away.
Earlier this week, Germany also confirmed it would be sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba has said if Russia uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine it will be a “catastrophe for the world”.
Speaking at a news conference, Kuleba said: “This order by President Putin came shortly after the announcement was made about two delegations ready to meet [for talks].
“We see this announcement or this order as an attempt to raise the stakes and to put additional pressure on the Ukrainian delegation.
“But we will not give in to this pressure. We will approach these talks with a very simple approach. We go there to listen [to what] what Russia has to say and we will tell them what we think of all this.”
He adds: “Ukraine is not falling. We are bleeding, but we continue to successfully defend ourselves.”
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