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.
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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.
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