The Russian President is said to have made the order in response to NATO and tough sanctions
Vladimir Putin has reportedly ordered military command to put nuclear deterrence forces on high alert in response to “aggressive statements” by Nato countries.
Putin: "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly economic actions against our country, but leaders of major Nato countries are making aggressive statements about our country. So I order to move Russia's deterrence forces to a special regime of duty." pic.twitter.com/AC1yHncqZc
— max seddon (@maxseddon) February 27, 2022
News agency, Reuters, on Sunday, said the Russian president had made the order as tensions grow with the west over his invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a meeting with his top officials on Sunday, Putin was said to have asserted that leading NATO powers had made “aggressive statements”. He also mentioned the west increasing severe sanctions against Russia, and him personally.
Putin ordered the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a “special regime of combat duty”, The Guardian reported, via the Associated Press.
According to Sky News, Putin said on state television: “As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension – I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well.
“But also the top officials of leading NATO countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regards to our country.”
The escalation comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday confirmed that negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow will now be held at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
A statement from Zelenskyy’s office said the two delegations will meet “without preconditions” near the Pripyat River.
Related links:
- 80-year-old Ukrainian man tries to enlist in army ‘for his grandkids’
- Poland refuses to play World Cup play-offs with Russia in response to Ukraine invasion
- This is not our war’: Young Russians are angry at Putin – and they want you to know
